T

he sun slowly sank in the sky as hundreds of joyful volunteers and supporters of president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo gathered at Tugu Proklamasi (Proclamation Monument), in an effort to not only celebrate their candidate winning the country'€™s presidential election, but also to galvanize people'€™s motivation and continued political involvement after the initial success.

'€œThis is just the beginning,'€ said Panel Barus, a member of the Pusat Informasi Rakyat volunteer group, and coordinator of the event.

The rally was organized by more than 14 of the hundreds of volunteer groups from all over the country that campaigned for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) candidate during his presidential bid.

The event served as both an outlet for celebration as well as a call to action '€” a collective affirmation of the people'€™s commitment to staying engaged in Reformasi (reform) now that they will have Jokowi at the presidential palace.

'€œWe won'€™t stop here. We did not organize ourselves only to get him elected,'€ said Hilmar Farid, a member of Seknas Jokowi, one of the volunteer groups that participated in organizing the event.

At the rally, the group distributed a document, born from numerous discussions between volunteer groups, outlining the values that both Jokowi and his supporters share, as well as reforms that they want to see enacted. The values ranged from environmental protection to government transparency. Panel described the list as '€œcriteria'€ by which citizens can hold Jokowi, and the government as a whole, accountable.

'€œThis is the next step: to transform people from a simple population to citizens who are aware of their rights, their duties as citizens, who have political awareness and consciousness,'€ he added.

Hilmar described Jokowi choosing members of his Cabinet as a process that citizens should closely monitor, to ensure that the selection reflected the values of the people.

On July 22, when the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the official election result, Jokowi called for his camp to remain composed and stay at home, due to concerns over the possibility of violent clashes with rival candidate Prabowo Subianto'€™s sympathizers, making the recent rally one of the first chances for Jokowi supporters to openly express themselves and celebrate since the result.

Over 20,000 people were in attendance, according to organizers. Participants waved massive billowing flags and sported Jokowi attire and badges, including shirts reading '€œrevolusi mental'€ featuring a clenched fist inside a silhouette of a human head that represented Jokowi'€™s call for the self-empowerment of the people.

With all the hype and excitement surrounding Jokowi'€™s win, some have raised concerns that the eventual grinding and often frustrating affair of governance will disenfranchise the people who elected him and dash their hopes for his presidential term.

Didi Saya, a Jokowi supporter who has volunteered for the cause since Jokowi'€™s successful bid for the Jakarta governorship, said that volunteers are flexible. '€œWe understand that it [Reformasi] is a process.'€

Jokowi, who made a brief appearance at the rally, addressed the crowd at the breaking of the fast, eating from a cone of rice and vegetables that stood seven meters high, representing Jokowi as Indonesia'€™s 7th president.

Jokowi called for peace and unity in the wake of a divisive election campaign. '€œI ask all people to be one, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder,'€ Jokowi said to applause.