Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has been sworn into office for his second and final five-year term yesterday amid a string of fresh challenges around security, corruption and economic slowdown.
Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, took oath at a ceremony in the capital, Jakarta, attended by politicians and foreign dignitaries that was broadcast live on national television yesterday.
Re-elected in polls that took place in 17th April, the 58-year-old was sworn into office along with 76-year-old vice president Maruf Amin, who replaces Widodo’s vice president in his first term, Jusuf Kalla.
Widodo clinched victory with 55.5 percent of the vote in the April presidential election.
More than 30,000 security personnel were deployed in the capital. Police locked down some parts of the city and closed off streets near the parliament building and the presidential palace as they heightened the security.
The president said he would push two bills to replace laws that have hampered job creation, as well as warning he could sack underperforming civil servants.
