By Anna Coren, Jane Sit and Helen Regan, CNN

Jakarta (CNN)In his first international television interview since being re-elected in May, Indonesian President Joko Widodo denied being concerned about the rise of fundamentalism in his country, saying that the Islam practiced there is tolerant and progressive.

“I still believe that Islam in Indonesia is a tolerant and moderate Islam. Islam in Indonesia is modern, it is forward thinking,” said the leader, who is popularly known as Jokowi — a nickname he said was given to him by a French businessman while he was working as a furniture salesman.

In his second term as leader, Joko faces an uphill battle of uniting the world’s most populous Muslim nation, and fighting what he calls “hoaxes and fake news that influenced the mind of the people.”

“We now have to restore the situation and work together to build this country,” he said, at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

Joko’s comments came after a bitter electoral race against his longtime rival, former general Prabowo Subianto, who refused to accept the election result, alleging widespread ballot-rigging that sparked deadly clashes in the capital. The Constitutional Court subsequently threw out Prabowo’s bid to overturn the result, calling it “legally groundless.”

Putting their differences aside, the two political rivals earlier this month vowed to work together. Pointedly, their first face-to-face meeting after the heated contest took place on the country’s inaugural metro line (the MRT) — one of Joko’s first-term infrastructure wins.

No compromising values
Five years ago, Joko won the presidency on a promise to increase jobs, crack down on corruption and bolster human rights. But during his re-election campaign, he embraced elements of Indonesia’s religious right.

His running mate was conservative cleric Ma’ruf Amin, who supports Sharia law and believes that homosexuality should be criminalized. Amin is now Indonesia’s vice president. That was seen as an effort to eat into Prabowo’s conservative support base and appease those who claimed he was not Islamic enough.

Joko denied that he befriended hardliners to win the election, suggesting his outwardly secular values had not been compromised.

“We would like to work with all elements of society. We would like to work with everyone to develop this country, but not with those who want to ruin this country in terms of its ideology and in developing our economy. There is no compromise for me,” he said.

Joko called Amin a “moderate Muslim” and said it was logical to have a cleric running mate in a country that has the largest population of Muslims in the world.

“I’m not going to change,” he said. “I will not change what I believe.”

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https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/27/asia/indonesia-joko-widodo-interview-intl-hnk/index.html