Many Asian leaders are currently the scions of political dynasties
Many Asian leaders are the scions of political dynasties, benefitting from family name and reputation plus timing, but not everyone makes the cut
When Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo takes the oath of office next month, the former furniture maker and mayor of Jakarta will become an unusual statesman in a region ruled by political dynasties.
A slum-born son of a lumber salesman, Widodo is among the few regional leaders who does not descend from a parent or grandparent who previously led a country. From democracies to authoritarian states, a score of the region's nations are run by children of political dynasties.
You have to have a degree of internal fortitude and toughness
Political scientists are reluctant to proclaim that dynastic succession is becoming a trend in Asia. After all, in July Widodo defeated Prabowo Subianto, the former son-in-law of Indonesia's late strongman Suharto and the son of Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, a former government minister.
Across the continent, leaders are carrying on family political legacies, earning enormous political capital with a famous family name or nostalgia for past heroes during uncertain times.
In modern northeast Asia, where governments are either democratic or socialist, dynastic succession is relatively new. For the first time since the second world war, all four of the most talked about countries in the area are led by descendants of former nation builders.