New VP has chance to score in ‘premier league’

A man of action: Gibran (right) gesturing to his supporters as Prabowo looks on during an event to watch the results of the general election that took place in Jakarta last week. — Reuters

Incoming vice-president Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of outgoing President Joko Widodo, has a unique way of putting bureaucrats under him in Solo on notice to resolve issues.

Gibran, 36, mayor of Solo city, would park his official car at the spot where a problem cropped up to draw attention from relevant parties. He is expected to soon become the youngest vice-president of the world’s fourth most populous nation, a huge jump from being the mayor of a central Java city with a population of 520,000 in the last three years.