Reform-Minded Widodo Takes Over as Indonesia's President

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's Joko Widodo took over as president of the world's third-largest democracy on Monday with supporters' hopes high but pressing economic problems and skeptical rivals set to test the former furniture businessman.

Date: 20 October 2014 - 20:53

News ID: ۶۴۵۷

Widodo won a narrow victory over a former general in a July election with promises of clean government and tackling entrenched interests. It was the first time in the young democracy's history that a president was elected from outside the established military and political elite.
"This is the time for us to unite our hearts and hands, this is the time for us ... to reach and realize an Indonesia that has political sovereignty, economic independence and cultural character," Widodo said in his inaugural speech to a packed parliament.
His priorities will be getting to grips with slowing growth in the resource-rich country, as well as deteriorating government finances, a heavy subsidy bill and flagging investor interest.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry attended the inauguration along with various Asian leaders including the prime ministers of neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, the Sultan of Brunei and Australia's prime minister.
The former mayor of the city of Solo and governor of the capital, Jakarta, is untested on the national and international stages but he already faces resistance from the establishment to his transparent, can-do approach to governance.
"He has climbed up to the top of the pyramid but he's still weak within the powerful political class," said Achmad Sukarsono, a political analyst at the Habibie Center, think-tank.
Thousands gathered on the streets of the capital, Jakarta, waving flags and banners to celebrate the unprecedented ascent of the small-town businessman to leader of the country with the world's biggest Muslim population.