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Yudhoyono comes home to Cikeas in melancholy
End of an era: Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (center) and former first lady Ani Yudhoyono receive farewell greetings and best wishes as they leave the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday
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span class="inline inline-center">End of an era: Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (center) and former first lady Ani Yudhoyono receive farewell greetings and best wishes as they leave the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday. JP/Jerry Adiguna
Under the scorching sun, thousands of people were waiting for former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono outside Puri Cikeas Indah housing complex in Bogor, West Java, on Monday.
Flashy posters saying 'Welcome home and thank you SBY' and 'SBY, thank you for developing the country and taking care of the people' were raised high.
Rukmini, a resident of Depok, West Java said that she and more than a hundred others had been waiting for Yudhoyono since 1 p.m. She has long admired him, praising him as a pro-people president who had a successful 10-year tenure.
'I will finally get the chance to see Pak SBY and if it is possible, I would also like to shake his hand,' Rukmini told The Jakarta Post.
Sukmawati, another visitor from Depok, said that she was especially thankful that the Democratic Party co-founder and chairman had provided her and her neighbors with nine buses to visit Yudhoyono's residence.
Shortly after 4:30 p.m. the crowd went wild after catching a glimpse of a high-end SUV with a hand waving from the back seat window. Still wearing the black suit from the inauguration, Yudhoyono exited his car along with wife Ani Yu-dhoyono and their son Edhie 'Ibas' Baskoro.
It was Yudhoyono's first time returning home as an ordinary citizen after Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo was sworn in as the country's seventh president in a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) plenary session earlier in the day.
Around 400 elementary school students dressed in various costumes, from marching band uniforms to police uniforms, beamed when they saw the former first family walking in front of them.
Thousands of people from various areas swarmed around Yudhoyono, Ani and Ibas when they were walking from the housing complex's front gate to their house.
The former first family was surrounded by dozens of personnel from the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres) who shouted at the crowd to clear the way.
The security detail then escorted Yudhoyono, Ani and Ibas into their house, where a reception had been prepared for them.
Inside the house, a number of well-known figures could be seen, such as former cabinet secretary Dipo Alam, former coordinating economic minister Hatta Rajasa, former education minister Mohammad Nuh, and National Police security maintenance agency chief Comr. Gen. Putut Eko Bayuseno.
Yudhoyono started to shed tears as he shook hands with guests. The crowd then grew silent when Yudhoyono and Ani, both in tears, hugged each other.
He then made a farewell speech to the crowd in a deep voice.
'Thank you to everyone who prayed for me so that I would have the strength to face my challenges no matter how hard they were, giving me the ability to carry out my duties to the best of my ability,' he said.
He added that he had yet to decide what he would do next. According to him, several international organizations had already asked him to join them.
Yudhoyono further said that he hoped the nation would continuously see smooth power transitions, highlighting when he took over the reins from former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.
'Actually, there was no problem during then because it was a democracy and people voted for me to become their president. However,the transition didn't run smoothly,' Yudhoyono said.
The retired army general, however, will not remain idle for too long. Yudhoyono will soon assume his new role as the president of Seoul-based intergovernmental organization the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI).
Democratic Party executive and former cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister Syariefuddin Hasan said on Monday that Yudhoyono would likely start his new role in the GGGI in early
November.
'They asked him [Yudhoyono to work] immediately,' Syariefuddin told The Jakarta Post.
Yudhoyono will replace GGGI president Lars Lokke Rasmussen ' who is a former Danish prime minister and the leader of the Denmark Liberal Party.
Syariefuddin hinted earlier in the day that Yudhoyono might go on vacation before starting his new job. (idb)
