The new president and vice president took the oath of office during the official swearing-in ceremony, which was attended by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesias sixth president, and two other former presidents, B.J. Habibie and Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Prabowo Subianto of the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) and Hatta Rajasa of the National Mandate Party (PAN), who were rivals of Jokowi and Kalla during the presidential election held in July 2014, were also present during the inauguration ceremony.
Six foreign heads of state, ministers, and foreign ambassadors to Indonesia also attended the ceremony.
Among them were the President of Timor-Leste Taur Matan Ruak, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter ONieill, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Salvador Lamonthe, and former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda as special envoy of the Japanese government.
Other foreign dignitaries included Deputy Speaker of the Chinese parliament Yan Junqi, Chief of the Vietnamese administration Vu Duc NDu, Foreign Minister of New Zealand Murray McCully, special representatives of South Korea Kim Tae-whan and Ham Jin-kyu, Thai Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn, Dutch special envoy Dr Tjeek Willink, the United States Secretary of State John Kerry, the British Secretary of State Philip Hammond, and Russian Industry Minister Denis Valentinovich.
Jokowi, the second president elected through a direct presidential election, will rule the country until 2019. He and his running mate, M. Jusuf Kalla, won 53.15 percent of the total votes in the presidential election held on July 9, 2014, while their rivals, Prabowo Subianto and his partner Hatta Rajasa, secured 46.85 percent votes.
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono became Indonesias first directly elected president in the 2004 election, and he was reelected in 2009.
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Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
