Jokowi consolidates power amid health crisis

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo held a meeting with business associations and lobbying group in the State Palace on on Sept 8 2021.- Cabinet Secretariat/Muchlis Jr This article was published in thejakartapost.com with the title "Jokowi consolidates power amid health crisis". Click to read: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2021/12/29/jokowi-consolidates-power-amid-health-crisis.html.

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): For President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, 2021 marks the year he seized the opportunity to tighten his grip on national politics after steering the country through the Delta-fuelled second wave of the pandemic.

The second wave peaked in mid-July with more than 50,000 daily cases recorded, pushing the country’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse and leading to the enforcement of emergency public activity restrictions (PPKM Darurat), the country's strictest mobility curbs.