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AP Interview: Indonesia Leader to Speed Reform in Final Term

Associated Press

   JAKARTA, INDONESIA - Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in an
   interview Friday that he will push ahead with sweeping and potentially
   unpopular economic reforms, including a more business-friendly labor
   law, in his final term because he is no longer constrained by politics.

   Widodo also told The Associated Press it is "entirely possible" that he
   could ban the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front during his second
   five-year term, a sign of his government's deep concern about groups
   that are threatening Indonesia's reputation for successfully combining
   Islam and democracy.

   The president, popularly known as "Jokowi," wants Indonesia to be known
   as a moderate nation, but that message has been undermined by a wave of
   hostility toward gay and transgender people, public canings in Aceh
   province, which practices Shariah law under a special autonomy deal,
   and other examples of religious intolerance. It's a trend that could
   spook foreign investors courted by Widodo as key drivers of economic
   growth in a nation where nearly half the population is younger than 30.

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