NU chairman to attend Jokowi's inauguration

Jakarta, NU Online
General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) KH Said Aqil Siroj said he would attend the inauguration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the building of People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Monday (20/10). <>

"God willing I will attend it," said Siroj on the sidelines of his meeting with the chairman of MPR, Zulkifli Hasan, at the NU headquarters recently, adding that he greatly appreciated the development of democracy in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Zulkifli Hasan said that all political party leaders, including Prabowo, had confirmed they would attend the inauguration.

The MPR on Saturday staged its final rehearsal for the swearing-in. Several foreign leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Republican senator and former presidential candidate John McCain, are expected to attend the ceremony.

National Police chief Gen. Sutarman has said that more than 24,000 police will be deployed to secure the event, most of whom will be concentrated on the MPR complex and its surroundings.

The MPR has earmarked Rp 1 billion (US$82,610) for the ceremony, which Zulkifli said was much less than for the inauguration of regional heads.

After the inauguration, volunteers for Jokowi will throw a street party to celebrate.

Jokowi and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla are expected to join a a “people’s parade”, riding a horse-drawn carriage from Semanggi to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle.

The Jakarta Police are expected to close off several of the city’s main thoroughfares for the parade and divert traffic from affected areas.

Editing by Sudarto Murtaufiq