President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono on Tuesday took their oaths of office,  with the President reminding his citizens  of their resilience in the face of various problems, including conflicts and  disasters.

The inauguration ceremony, which was broadcast live on TV stations, took place at 10 a.m. at the plenary session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) under tight security, causing heavy traffic congestion on main roads leading to the parliamentary compound.

Foreign dignitaries included Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Timor Leste President José Ramos Horta.

“With this inauguration, you are now the official President of Indonesia for 2009-2014. Now you are a leader of a nation, not just of a political group,” MPR Speaker Taufik Kiemas said.

First Lady Kristiani Herawati and Boediono's wife Herawati “Herti” Boediono, wearing red kebaya smiled after Yudhoyono and Boediono were sworn in, accompanied by Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa.    

Also attending the ceremony were former president B.J. Habibie, former vice president Jusuf Kalla, more than 600 lawmakers, governors and ministerial candidates.

Former presidents Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri were not seen at the event.

Laughter broke out, briefly disrupting the solemnity of the event, when Taufik forgot to greet Habibie and stumbled over Habibie's and the President's full names.  

In his inaugural speech, the President appealed for national unity to reach Indonesia's common goals.

To achieve such unity, Yudhoyono said that the nation needed to hold on to three crucial ideas: to never give up; to maintain the nation's integrity; and to uphold national identity and values, while maintaining full respect for pluralism, tolerance and respect towards humanity.

He also thanked former rivals Megawati, Kalla and their running mates in the recent presidential election for contributing to the country's democracy.

“Your service will be recorded and remembered forever in the history of our nation,” he said while looking at Kalla, to strong applause from the floor. He asked all sides to maintain unity in the face of major challenges to justice and prosperity.

“Remember, our monumental achievements from our revolution [for independence], national development, reform movement, conflict settlement and  the handling of the tsunami, could all only be reached through persistence and the spirit of never giving up.”

Yudhoyono who picked Boediono as his running mate in the July 8 presidential election, won a clear victory for his second term, defeating Kalla and Megawati, who were nominated by the Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) respectively.

Yudhoyono also thanked all his ministers in the previous Cabinet for their hard work, especially during the global economic downturn.

Foreign dignitaries proceeded to the Presidential Palace to take part in an inauguration reception hosted by the President and the Vice President at the State Palace.

The two-hour inauguration ceremony went on under tight security with the deployment of dozens of armored vehicles and 2,000 security personnel, including a number of snipers stationed at strategic points on the parliament building.

However, a protest followed the ceremony when 600 students and activists staged a demonstration at the gate of the parliamentary compound, demanding that the government pay attention to low-paid workers and poor students,  and launch agrarian reform. (hdt)

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