President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo wants speeches in the programs set to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) to deliver a strong message of global justice.

Jokowi made the remarks during a limited Cabinet meeting on Friday regarding final preparations for the AAC, scheduled for next week in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java.

'€œI just want to have speeches that will be more than '€˜business as usual; but a really strong message, particularly, a message about new governance and global justice,'€ Jokowi said.

Jokowi said world institutions such as the UN had not been able to carry the message. '€œWhat we see today is that the UN does not play such a role [in creating a just world].'€

Among those attending Friday'€™s Cabinet meeting were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir, State Secretary Pratikno and Presidential chief of staff Luhut Panjaitan. Luhut is overseeing the organizing committee for the event.

Jokowi made his debut last November at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing, where he delivered a no-nonsense speech during the APEC-CEO forum.

The President also demonstrated directness in recent bilateral talks with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Yanuar Nugroho, one of Luhut'€™s deputies, said the President wanted the event to send a clear message to the international community that went beyond mere pomp and circumstance.

'€œJokowi wants the world to know that the Asian-African summit, or the Asian-African Conference'€™s 60th anniversary commemoration, gives a clear message that we need new and more fair world governance in economic, political and sociocultural fields,'€ Yanuar said.

The President, Yanuar said, would be blunt in his speech.

'€œThe speech will be short, meaningful and able to deliver his message,'€ he said.

Yanuar said Jokowi would give two speeches, the first during the opening ceremony of the AAC on April 23 in Jakarta and the second during a commemoration event on April 24 in Bandung.

According to Yanuar, a team composed of members from the Foreign Ministry, the State Secretariat and the Cabinet Secretariat was still finalizing Jokowi'€™s speeches.

During the commemoration event in Bandung, Jokowi hopes to remind leaders of Asian and African countries of joint efforts to address world challenges 60 years ago, and to think about what could be done today.

The President, Yanuar said, had also directed his ministers and officials to synchronize their messages with his.

At least 28 heads of state or heads of government, six deputies, and representatives of 79 countries have confirmed their attendance at the AAC.

Some 18 heads of state have requested to hold bilateral talks with Jokowi on the sidelines of the commemoration events.

'€œAmong them are China, Japan and Pakistan. And we expect there will be more,'€ Fachir said.

Fachir, however, declined to provide further details on the content of Jokowi'€™s planned remarks.

The AAC is expected to produce several historical documents, including a declaration of support for the formation of a sovereign Palestinian state, a senior diplomat has said.

The declaration of support for Palestine, though non-binding, was an idea conceived early on in discussions about the conference'€™s substance in New York.

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