The ceremony, which was attended by top government officials, foreign diplomats and prominent figures, began at 10 am local time.
Sirens were sounded and cannons were fired 17 times to mark the independence day celebration. Columns of military and police troops in ceremonial uniforms tightly guarded the palace during the event.
Chairman of the People`s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Taufik Kiemas red out the text of the Declaration of Independence.
The inspector ceremony was Colonel Yeheskiel Katiandagho, the commander of the Eastern Fleet`s Marine Amphibious Reconnaissance Battalion.
None of former Indonesian presidents - BJ Habibie and Megawati Soekarnoputri - attended the ceremony. Three former vice presidents, namely M Jusuf Kalla, Hamzah Haz and Try Sutrisno, were present on the occasion.
Children of former presidents, among others Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, Guruh Sukarnoputra, Siti Hediati and Yenni Wahid, participated in the ceremony.
Indonesia represented by Soekarno and M Hatta proclaimed its Independence on August 17, 1945, two days after the Japanese Emperor`s surrender in the Pacific.
Soekarno and M Hatta were respectively Indonesia`s first president and vice president.
Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for about 350 years and by the Japanese for around 3.5 years.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
