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Monday, October 20, 2014

Joko Widodo Is Sworn In as Indonesian President - New York Times

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Asia Pacific |Joko Widodo Is Sworn In as Indonesian President



http://nyti.ms/1qYFmey






Asia Pacific |​​NYT Now





After the inauguration of President Joko Widodo on Monday, he took part in a parade through Jakarta, the capital. Achmad Ibraham/Associated Press




JAKARTA, Indonesia — Joko Widodo, a commoner who was born in a Javan slum, was sworn in on Monday as president of Indonesia, completing an improbable political rise from hometown mayor to leader of the world’s fourth most-populous nation.


Mr. Joko, 53, is the first Indonesian president not to have emerged from the country’s political elite or to have been an army general. He succeeded Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who stepped down on Monday after serving two five-year terms.


With a Quran, the holy book of Islam, held above his head, Mr. Joko took the oath of office during a nationally televised special session of the People’s Consultative Assembly, a legislative superbody dominated by the House of Representatives. Indonesia, an emerging democracy, is the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and has the largest economy in Southeast Asia.


Mr. Joko’s vice president, Jusuf Kalla, also took the oath of office during the session.



Among the foreign dignitaries attending the ceremony were Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia and John Kerry, the American secretary of state.




Indonesians in Central Java celebrated the inauguration of Joko Widodo as president on Monday. Mohammad Ali/European Pressphoto Agency

The inauguration provided a respite for Indonesia from a tense political period that has endured since the country’s July 9 presidential election. Mr. Joko defeated Prabowo Subianto, a former general and son-in-law of Suharto, the late authoritarian president who was forced from office amid pro-democracy demonstrations in 1998.


Mr. Prabowo, however, leads a coalition of opposition parties that controls a majority of seats and all the leadership positions in the House of Representatives and that has vowed to challenge Mr. Joko’s policy agenda at every turn. Some opposition leaders have vowed to be obstructionist and have even called for corruption investigations against the new president from his time as mayor of Surakarta, in Central Java, as well as governor of Jakarta.


Following a meeting last Friday between the pair to ease tensions, Mr. Prabowo attended Monday’s inauguration. Mr. Joko acknowledged him and referred to him as “my good friend” during his speech.


The new president has promised more “people-centric” government programs in a country where, despite its membership in the Group of 20 major economies, more than 100 million people live on $2 a day or less and the disparity between the rich and poor is at an all-time high, according to economists.


The unlikely presidential victory by Mr. Joko over Mr. Prabowo was characterized by many as a battle between a commoner and someone from Indonesia’s political elite and authoritarian past.


Mr. Joko, a former carpenter and small-business man, mentioned the masses that had rallied around him during the election campaign in his 10-minute inaugural address, during which he called on national government officials and the civil service to work to improve the lot of the country’s poor.


“This is a truly historic moment for all of us to come together,” the new president said. “Through hard work and cooperation, we will be able to help all Indonesians,” he added later.


Despite having a minority governing coalition, Mr. Joko has said he expects members of Mr. Prabowo’s coalition to eventually switch sides and join his administration, thereby giving him a majority and increasing his ability to pass legislation. The new president has promised more government programs for farmers, fishermen and other traditional laborers, and more spending on health care and social services for the poor.


Mr. Joko also gave an indication of his foreign policy plans to turn Indonesia into a “maritime power” during his address, noting that the country is the world’s largest archipelago.


After the swearing-in ceremony, Mr. Joko’s presidential motorcade traveled through central Jakarta to greet the public, and he was then taken to the Presidential Palace in a traditional horse-drawn carriage. A number of inaugural events were planned for later in the day and evening.



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