Breaking with the tradition of his predecessors, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo celebrated Idul Fitri in Aceh this year and did not host an '€œopen house'€ or a gathering during the first day of Idul Fitri at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Jokowi, who along with First Lady Iriana arrived in Aceh last Wednesday night, attended an Idul Fitri parade that started in front of the Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in Banda Aceh on the eve of Idul Fitri on Thursday night.

Wearing a white shirt, black blazer, a sarong and a black peci (traditional cap), the President performed an Idul Fitri mass prayer at the same mosque on Friday morning and later made time for shaking hands with local residents.

Jokowi said he opted for Aceh because it was the country'€™s westernmost province and was dubbed Serambi Mekkah (the Veranda of Mecca).

'€œUsually a president celebrates Lebaran in Jakarta. I believe Indonesia is not merely about Jakarta. [So] I was thinking of celebrating Idul Fitri in Aceh,'€ Jokowi told the locals later on Friday while he was visiting a former floating diesel power plant barge, PLTD Apung, which had been washed away by the 2004 tsunami in the Punge Blang Cut area in Banda Aceh, as quoted from Antara.

'€œI hope Aceh will be a gate of peace and a place where values of humanity flourish,'€ said the President, who later also distributed staple food packages to local residents.

It was not the first time the President celebrated a major holiday outside the capital. Last year, Jokowi paid a visit to Papua, the country'€™s Easternmost province, to attend the national Christmas celebrations.

Teten Masduki, a member of the presidential communications team, said the President made such moves because the two provinces needed extra attention from the central government.

'€œIn the upcoming years, the President might also pay a visit to various other places in Indonesia to celebrate national holidays,'€ Teten added.

Jokowi later continued his Idul Fitri, also locally known as Lebaran, journey to his hometown Surakarta on Friday night to spend time with his extended family.

In Surakarta, the President also paid a visit to the Notoharjo flea market '€” which was one of Jokowi'€™s early success stories in managing street vendors during his time as Surakarta mayor '€” and distributed a number of staple food packages and books to locals and vendors.

'€œI'€™m just reminiscing about the old days,'€ said Jokowi, who later traveled to a village in Boyolali to distribute similar free gifts to the residents.

On Sunday night, the President spent time by watching a local action-comedy flick called Comic 8: Casino Kings with his family at a cinema. The move surprised the guests at the cinema and some even tried to take pictures with the President.

Jokowi arrived in Jakarta on Monday noon. Yet, no activity was seen at the State Palace on Tuesday as the palace announced that Jokowi had only an internal agenda that day. Teten said Jokowi was at the Bogor Palace.

Jokowi'€™s Lebaran trips raised questions about whether he was trying to dodge visiting Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Ahmad Basarah denied it, saying that '€œThere is no problem between Ibu Mega and Pak Jokowi.'€

'€œSince Ibu Mega did not host an open house, President Jokowi chose to perform the Idul Fitri prayer and celebrate the first day of Lebaran with the Aceh people in order to bring the central government and the Aceh people closer,'€ Basarah added.

Although Megawati announced that she would not to host an open house at her residence in Jakarta, the ruling party'€™s chairwoman nevertheless decided to receive guests coming to her residence that day, said Basarah.

'€œI predicted that after returning from Aceh and Surakarta, Pak Jokowi, Insya Allah [God Willing], will meet Ibu Mega to celebrate Lebaran directly. I believe the Syawal [the Muslim month after Ramadhan], which is a good month to forgive each others, is still long as we have only entered the fifth day of Syawal,'€ Basarah said.

Unlike Jokowi, Vice President Jusuf Kalla hosted an open house at the Vice Presidential Palace on Friday where he received a number of ambassadors, ministers, heads of state institutions, palace staff and members of the public.

A number of top politicians, such as Golkar Party chairman from the Bali national congress camp, Aburizal Bakrie, Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and United Development Party chairman Muhammad Romahurmuziy were seen to come out from the Vice President'€™s palace that day. (ind)

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