JAKARTA: Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said yesterday he is convinced the Indonesian administration helmed by the new president Joko Widodo would strengthen the ties between neighbours Malaysia and Indonesia.
Najib congratulates Widodo prior to their bilateral meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta. — AFP photo
Joko, who is popularly known as Jokowi among the people of Indonesia, got down to work yesterday as the seventh president of Indonesia after taking his oath of office at the People’s Consultative Assembly, the highest constitutional body, to lead the country of 250 million people.
Joko, the former governor of Jakarta, takes over from Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who had been the president since 2004.
“I wish all the best to President Joko and vice-president Jusuf Kalla,” Najib told the Indonesian media after attending the swearing-in ceremony.
Indonesia’s Detiknews.com quoted Najib as having said that Jokowi and Jusuf understood well the importance of Malaysia-Indonesia relations.
“I hope to work with the new president to strengthen bilateral ties. I extend my best wishes to Bapak Jokowi on his election,” Najib was quoted as saying in the report.
Jusuf Kalla also took his oath of office as the vice-president before the more than 1,000 members of the assembly.
Najib, who had a personal invitation from Jokowi, 53, to attend the inauguration, was accompanied by his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor at the ceremony.
Eighteen foreign dignitaries and nine heads of government attended the ceremony, which lasted about two hours.
Najib was accorded the honour of being the first of the foreign heads of government to arrive at the Istana Merdeka, official residence of the president, to call on Jokowi and convey his congratulations.
Najib took the opportunity of his visit to Jakarta to meet with United States’ Secretary of State John Kerry who had also attended the inauguration.
Among the leaders who attended the swearing-in were the Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah; Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Jokowi and Jusuf won the presidential election by polling 70,990,832 votes or 53.15 per cent of the total 133,567,276 votes.
Jokowi’s opponent, Prabowo Subianto, and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, both of whom also attended the inauguration, garnered 62,576,444 votes or 46.85 per cent. — Bernama