Indonesia gets Joko Widodo a.k.a. Jokowi as President.
Indonesia’s Joko Widowo has been sworn in as the President of the country, amid rising economic unrest on October 20, 2014. Known in all of Indonesia as Jokowi, the new president is the first to be elected from outside the military and political elite.
As the former governor leader of Jakarta, Jokowi won the July elections with a narrow victory over an ex-general. Thousands of people descended on the streets in Jakarta to celebrate the unique story of a small businessman’s transition to the leader of the world’s third-largest democracy.
The 53-year-old’s ascension to presidency was witnessed by world leaders and representatives, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Sultan of Brunei, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, as well as prime ministers from neighboring countries Malaysia and Singapore.
Jokowi has already been facing opposition from political quarter, which will come heavily in the way of the political and economic reform that is expected out of him through his transparent and active approach. Currently, he is left with minority government, owing mostly to his refusal to swap cabinet posts.
In his inaugural speech, the president spoke about his plan to turn Indonesia into a maritime power, while also promising the expansion of the country’s ports in order to restart the economy with the help of funds.
At present Jokowi’s biggest challenge lies in cutting back on generous fuel subsidies in the next two weeks to avoid a breach in the budget deficit legal limit, which is heavily under pressure from a shortfall in tax revenues and crawling economic growth in the past five years.
The newly appointed president would soon be seen internationally at an Asia-Pacific summit in Beijing and a G20 summit in Australia.
Photo Credits: pngloop.com
