Last year, we wrote about Jakarta governor Joko Widodo, who was considering a run for president of the country. Plenty of politicians run for president all the time, but what differentiated Widodo from all the others was that he was a proud metalhead, citing Metallica and Napalm Death as bands he likes, and had been given a bass by Metallica’s Robert Trujillo. Less than a year later, it turns out that he’s won, and Indonesia has themselves a metal president!
Widodo won with 53,1% of the vote, edging out his opponent Prabowo Subianto, who got 46.85%. The BBC reports that about 130 million votes were cast. And Metal Hammer reports that sadly, because Trujillo”s gift of a bass was seen as a bribe, he was forced to give it back. Widodo, the son of a wood-seller, is seen as a clean break from the authoritarian past and a champion of better social welfare for the poor. While his opponent has raised allegations of voter fraud, the 6% that he won by is seen as decisive, so let’s welcome the first metalhead president of any country!
