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Indonesia's Jokowi kicks off fresh term after wave of crises
[DAWN] Indonesia's President Joko Widodo will kick off a fresh term on Sunday, facing a wave of crises and with Jakarta under heavy security days after hard boyz tried to assassinate his top security minister.More than 30,000 security personnel were deployed in the capital amid fears of another attack during the inauguration of Widodo, 58, and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, 76. The ceremony, attended by foreign delegations and heads of state, is scheduled to start around 0730 GMT. A crowd of several hundred supporters formed near the presidential palace on Sunday. But celebrations will likely be muted after mass demonstrations were banned as militancy continues to plague the world's biggest Moslem-majority nation. Widodo, widely known as Jokowi, met several visiting leaders including Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison before the swearing-in. Jokowi ‐ a popular, heavy metal-loving former businessman from outside the political and military elite ‐ was hailed as Indonesia's answer to Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... when he was first elected in 2014 to lead the world's third-biggest democracy. But his leadership is under mounting criticism after a string of challenges in recent months. These range from nationwide anti-government demonstrations in which three students died and smog-belching forest fires that sparked diplomatic tensions with Indonesia's neighbours, to deadly unrest in Papua province and a slowdown in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Related: Joko Widodo: 2019-10-11 Suspected IS radical stabs Indonesian security minister Joko Widodo: 2019-09-26 Police fire water cannon as Indonesians rally against new laws Joko Widodo: 2019-08-28 Indonesia to move capital from sinking Jakarta to Borneo Posted by: Fred 2019-10-21 |
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