Honeymoon over for Jokowi as U-turns erode his authority

Denpasar, Indonesia

WHEN Indonesian President Joko Widodo wanted to push this year's Budget through the opposition-dominated Parliament, he left it to his advisers to hash out a deal with lawmakers.

Among the sweeteners his aides offered Parliament members was to roughly double their allowance for downpayments on new cars to US$15,000.

The plan backfired. Amid public fury over the concession in a country where graft is pervasive, the aides scrambled to reverse it - one of several policy flip-flops that have eroded support for Mr Widodo since he took office six months ago.

His meteoric rise from furniture businessman to president of the world's third-largest democracy (and the first to come from outside the political or military establishment) was widely seen as a watershed moment for Indonesia. Here was a leader, his supporters said, who would root out corruption, promote people based …