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Jakarta Post

All you need to know about Jokowi's presidential inauguration

The Indonesian Constitution grants the MPR the authority to inaugurate and remove the president and vice president.

Devina Heriyanto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sun, October 20, 2019

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All you need to know about Jokowi's presidential inauguration High alert: Police vehicles equipped with tear gas guns are seen at the House of Representatives/People’s Consultative Assembly compound in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, ahead of the inauguration of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and vice president-elect Ma’ruf Amin on Sunday. Some 31,000 security personnel will be deployed on Inauguration Day. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

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ndonesia is gearing up for the inauguration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and his vice president-to-be Ma'ruf Amin. The ceremony, which will mark the start of Jokowi's second term in office, will take place on Sunday at the People’s Consultative Assembly in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Security has been heightened nearing the event. About 31,000 personnel from the police and Indonesian Military (TNI) will be deployed to secure the event. The police, despite protest from activists, have banned any rallies from Tuesday until Inauguration Day. The Jakarta administration, meanwhile, has called off the Car Free Day event usually held on Sundays on the thoroughfares of Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin for security reasons, kompas.com reported.

World leaders expected to be present at Jokowi's inauguration include Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Five years ago, for Jokowi's first-term inauguration, at least seven world leaders attended the ceremony.

According to the rundown received by The Jakarta Post, the pre-event will begin at 1 p.m. Jakarta time. However, the actual inauguration will begin at 2:30 p.m. The event had initially been scheduled for the morning, but the Assembly moved it to the afternoon to accommodate Christians attending Sunday morning church services. 

What will happen during the inauguration?

The event will begin at 2:30 p.m. with the national anthem "Indonesia Raya", followed by a moment of silence -- a common practice at formal events in the country. The Assembly will then open the plenary meeting and the new Assembly Speaker Bambang Soesatyo will recite the announcement from the General Elections Commission (KPU) declaring the Jokowi-Ma'ruf ticket the winner of the 2019 presidential election.

At 2:56 p.m., Jokowi will take his oath, followed by Ma'ruf. Two religious figures will stand behind Jokowi and Ma'ruf, one for each, and hold a holy book, in this case the Quran, over their heads while they take the oath. It is customary in Indonesia to take the oath under a holy book in the presence of a religious figure.

Here is the Oath of the President (and Vice President) of the Republic of Indonesia:

"I swear by God to fulfill the duties of President [or Vice President] of the Republic of Indonesia to the best of my capabilities and in the fairest way possible, to uphold the Constitution by all means and to execute all laws and regulations as straightforwardly as possible as well as to dedicate myself to the service of the Nation and the People."

Unlike in the US presidential inauguration, in which the president has to memorize the words of the pledge, the oath will be printed on paper and held up to be read aloud by the president-elect and vice president-elect. 

After taking their oath, Jokowi and Ma'ruf will sign the documents of their inauguration, which will also be signed by the Assembly Speaker. The president and new vice president will be seated, before the plenary meeting continues and the president may give his inaugural address.

Before the end of the ceremony, there will be a prayer led by Nasaruddin Umar, who is the grand imam of the Istiqlal Mosque. The ceremony will officially end at 3:48 p.m. after another recital of the national anthem and a photo session.

No more royal carriage

There will be no parade to celebrate the start of Jokowi's second term. The chairman of pro-Jokowi organization Projo, Budi Arie Setiadi, said a planned cultural parade had been canceled. "The President does not want an excessive event. Thus, the cultural parade and carnival have been canceled," he said during a press conference on Thursday, as reported by kompas.com.

When Jokowi first took office in 2014, a cultural parade was held to celebrate his inauguration. After the inauguration ceremony at the Senayan compound, Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla went to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, where a royal carriage was waiting to take them to the National Monument (Monas).
When Jokowi first took office in 2014, a cultural parade was held to celebrate his inauguration. After the inauguration ceremony at the Senayan compound, Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla went to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, where a royal carriage was waiting to take them to the National Monument (Monas). (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

When Jokowi first took office in 2014, a cultural parade was held to celebrate his inauguration. After the inauguration ceremony at the Senayan compound, Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla went to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, where a royal carriage was waiting to take them to the National Monument (Monas). Upon arriving at Monas, Jokowi delivered his second speech as president.

What will happen after the Senayan event?

Jokowi announced on his Instagram account that he would announce his new Cabinet "immediately after the inauguration... either on the same day or the day after".

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Selamat pagi. Saya telah menerima beberapa versi “bocoran” nama-nama menteri kabinet untuk pemerintahan periode 2019-2024. Saya sendiri membacanya dengan antusias kalau-kalau itu benar adalah bocoran 😀 Yang jelas, susunan kabinet untuk pemerintahan periode mendatang sudah rampung. Saya akan umumkan segera setelah pelantikan Presiden dan Wakil Presiden RI 2019-2024 pada 20 Oktober, bisa di hari yang sama, atau setelahnya. Siapa-siapa yang akan membantu saya di pemerintahan nanti? Sabarlah. Indonesia ini tak berkekurangan orang-orang hebat dan mampu memimpin kementerian dan lembaga, dan bersedia untuk mengabdi kepada bangsa ini. Mereka terserak di semua bidang pekerjaan dan profesi: akademisi, birokrasi, politisi, santri, juga TNI dan polisi. Tidak sulit menemukan mereka.

A post shared by Joko Widodo (@jokowi) on

Hopes are high for Jokowi to pick more professionals for the Cabinet seats, but as the days closed to the inauguration, Jokowi opened doors even to erstwhile opposition leaders like Prabowo Subianto to get their people into the Cabinet.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said Jokowi would return to the State Palace after the inauguration and continue working. Moeldoko said there would be no special event at the Palace, except a possible public prayer with Ma'ruf.

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