JAKARTA. In a historic street parade from Jakarta’s business district to the Presidential Palace, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will join the public in celebrating what he calls “the people’s victory”. Prior to confronting a whirlwind of political and bureaucratic challenges in coming weeks as he struggles to deliver his campaign promises, the seventh president will indulge in an outdoor celebration attended by at least 20,000 people. After his inauguration at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) building in South Jakarta, Jokowi and First Lady Iriana will head to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta to hop on a chariot used to transport Javanese royalty to their coronations. The chariot will parade the couple along Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Merdeka Barat before entering the Presidential Palace, with thousands of people expected to flock to the area to see their new leader. Along the streets, volunteers are set to prepare hundreds of food carts providing free dishes such as ketoprak (rice cakes with peanut sauce), meatball soup and batagor (fish dumplings). However, it remains to be seen whether Jokowi will finally agree to board the chariot amid protests that such a display could be interpreted as feudalistic. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will end his term after Jokowi is sworn in at 10 a.m., will greet Jokowi at the office of the State Secretariat, which is located near the Palace, and lead him to a military-style handover ceremony. “The ceremony will mark a peaceful transition from one leader to the next,” said Yudhoyono when accompanying Jokowi on a tour of the Palace on Sunday. Musician Abdee Negara of Slank, the coordinator of the Syukuran Rakyat (People’s Thanskgiving) festivities, said that the outdoor celebration would be packed with cultural parades, culinary treats and music performances. “The event was initiated by Jokowi’s volunteers, who have the same vision of a better Indonesia,” he said on Sunday. Many art communities and artists will also join the parade, along with Papuan dancers, lion dancers, ondel-ondel (traditional Betawi giant effigies) and even a batik carnival. The music concert is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and English rock band Arkarna will be among dozens of famous musicians to perform. Abdee said, however, that the line-up was still provisional as many musicians were interested in taking part in the concert. “There will be some surprises, so you’d better watch it live,” he said. The event, funded by Jokowi supporters, will culminate at 7 p.m., when people will let fly hundreds of Chinese lanterns in National Monument (Monas) square. Jokowi is scheduled to attend both the music concert and the lantern event. NGO Migrant Care also plans to join the event, saying that they would use the moment to raise people’s awareness about the protection of migrant workers. “We have prepared balloons and lanterns, as well as nine posters expressing our hope that the new government can manage migrant workers issues better than the previous government,” said Migrant Care policy analyst Wahyu Susilo. “We hope that there will be no more violence against migrant workers,” said Wahyu, adding that the nine posters would be flown together with the balloons and the lanterns. Jokowi and vice president Kalla will end the day with an official dinner at the Presidential Palace attended by state guests. World leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the inauguration ceremony include Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. MPR Speaker Zulkifli Hasan assured reporters that there would not be any disturbance from rogue politicians during Jokowi’s inauguration as the former Jakarta governor had recently embarked on a series of sincere reconciliation attempts with rival politicians. Jokowi met on Friday with his former rival in the July 9 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, ending four months of tension that had lead to political instability. Zulkifli said that all party leaders, including Prabowo, had confirmed they would attend the inauguration. When asked how he would respond should a disturbance occur during his inauguration, Jokowi merely replied: “There is nothing special [for the ceremony tomorrow]. As usual, I will drink jamu [herbal medicine].” (Margareth S. Aritonang)
Celebrating a new dawn
JAKARTA. In a historic street parade from Jakarta’s business district to the Presidential Palace, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will join the public in celebrating what he calls “the people’s victory”. Prior to confronting a whirlwind of political and bureaucratic challenges in coming weeks as he struggles to deliver his campaign promises, the seventh president will indulge in an outdoor celebration attended by at least 20,000 people. After his inauguration at the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) building in South Jakarta, Jokowi and First Lady Iriana will head to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta to hop on a chariot used to transport Javanese royalty to their coronations. The chariot will parade the couple along Jl. MH Thamrin and Jl. Merdeka Barat before entering the Presidential Palace, with thousands of people expected to flock to the area to see their new leader. Along the streets, volunteers are set to prepare hundreds of food carts providing free dishes such as ketoprak (rice cakes with peanut sauce), meatball soup and batagor (fish dumplings). However, it remains to be seen whether Jokowi will finally agree to board the chariot amid protests that such a display could be interpreted as feudalistic. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who will end his term after Jokowi is sworn in at 10 a.m., will greet Jokowi at the office of the State Secretariat, which is located near the Palace, and lead him to a military-style handover ceremony. “The ceremony will mark a peaceful transition from one leader to the next,” said Yudhoyono when accompanying Jokowi on a tour of the Palace on Sunday. Musician Abdee Negara of Slank, the coordinator of the Syukuran Rakyat (People’s Thanskgiving) festivities, said that the outdoor celebration would be packed with cultural parades, culinary treats and music performances. “The event was initiated by Jokowi’s volunteers, who have the same vision of a better Indonesia,” he said on Sunday. Many art communities and artists will also join the parade, along with Papuan dancers, lion dancers, ondel-ondel (traditional Betawi giant effigies) and even a batik carnival. The music concert is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and English rock band Arkarna will be among dozens of famous musicians to perform. Abdee said, however, that the line-up was still provisional as many musicians were interested in taking part in the concert. “There will be some surprises, so you’d better watch it live,” he said. The event, funded by Jokowi supporters, will culminate at 7 p.m., when people will let fly hundreds of Chinese lanterns in National Monument (Monas) square. Jokowi is scheduled to attend both the music concert and the lantern event. NGO Migrant Care also plans to join the event, saying that they would use the moment to raise people’s awareness about the protection of migrant workers. “We have prepared balloons and lanterns, as well as nine posters expressing our hope that the new government can manage migrant workers issues better than the previous government,” said Migrant Care policy analyst Wahyu Susilo. “We hope that there will be no more violence against migrant workers,” said Wahyu, adding that the nine posters would be flown together with the balloons and the lanterns. Jokowi and vice president Kalla will end the day with an official dinner at the Presidential Palace attended by state guests. World leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the inauguration ceremony include Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. MPR Speaker Zulkifli Hasan assured reporters that there would not be any disturbance from rogue politicians during Jokowi’s inauguration as the former Jakarta governor had recently embarked on a series of sincere reconciliation attempts with rival politicians. Jokowi met on Friday with his former rival in the July 9 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, ending four months of tension that had lead to political instability. Zulkifli said that all party leaders, including Prabowo, had confirmed they would attend the inauguration. When asked how he would respond should a disturbance occur during his inauguration, Jokowi merely replied: “There is nothing special [for the ceremony tomorrow]. As usual, I will drink jamu [herbal medicine].” (Margareth S. Aritonang)
