Joko Widodo Sworn In As Indonesia's New President

From Roslan Ariffin JAKARTA (Indonesia), Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Joko Widodo was on Monday sworn in as the new president of Indonesia to lead the nation of 250 million people, in an inauguration before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest constitutional body. Joko, 53, who is popularly known as Jokowi among Indonesians, took over the helm from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been the president since 2004. Jusuf Kalla also took the oath of office as the vice-president in front of the more than 1,000 MPR members. Both leaders took their oath of office for a five-year term in a ceremony that was widely covered by all local and foreign media, besides being witnessed by millions of Indonesians via live telecast by the various local television stations. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who received a personal invitation from Jokowi to attend the historic ceremony, had arrived here with his wife, Rosmah Mansor, and joined 18 foreign dignitaries and nine heads of government at the event. Najib was accorded the privilege of paying a courtesy call on Joko to congratulate the latter on behalf of the people and government of Malaysia, despite the new president's tight schedule, including meeting his supporters at various functions on Monday. Among the world leaders who witnessed the inauguration were the Ruler of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah; Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and United States Secretary of State John Kerry. Joko, the Jakarta Governor, and his running mate Jusuf won the hotly contested Indonesian presidential election on July 22, obtaining 70,990,832 votes or 53.15 per cent out of the total 133,567,276 votes. His opponent, Prabowo Subianto, and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, who also witnessed the inauguration, garnered 62,576,444 votes or 46.85 per cent. Meanwhile, despite the strict control and roadblocks by Indonesian security forces in the compound of the legislative hall and the main routes leading to the venue, the media and Joko's supporters had gathered to follow the proceedings since early this morning. Throughout the ceremony, his supporters, who were accommodated at a special area to follow the proceedings via giant screens, burst out in applause whenever the face of their leader appeared on screen. In his maiden speech following the swearing-in, Joko expressed his gratitude to all the foreign national leaders who were present to give their support. The republic's seventh president also pledged to be with the international community in every effort to maintain global peace and security. Joko also expressed his appreciation to Susilo whom he praised for having done a good job over the past 10 years. The new president also repeated the word "kerja" (work) several times in his speech as a commitment to work hard throughout his term to make Indonesia a better and more progressive state, besides appealing to the people of Indonesia to continue to give him their full support. --BERNAMA