The presidential election is taking place in Indonesia today. While traveling around the country in June, I often saw T-shirts, billboards, etc. with presidential candidate Jokowi's photo. It seemed to me Joko "Jokowi" Widodo resembles a youthful Barack Obama, and after reading a little about him it appears that the similarities are more than just physical (see: http://www.forbes.com/sites/yunitaong/2014/07/08/as-indonesian-election-day-approaches-jokowi-draws-obama-comparisons/)
Jokowi is the grassroots reformer candidate (the other main presidential contender, Prabowo Subianto, is accused of having been involved in the kidnapping and torture of Indonesian human rights activists), and while governor of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, implemented universal health care. But the similarities go further -- in a bizarre twist on Obama having been accused of being an un-American Muslim, a smear campaign against Jokowi claims that he is a Christian, of Chinese origin. As the world's largest Muslim country, being considered a non-Muslim would surely kill any chance of Jokowi becoming Indonesia's next president.
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