Jakarta, Indonesia – 20 October, 2014

1. Various new Indonesian President Joko Widodo being sworn in, speaking, waves to crowd

STORYLINE:

STORYLINE:

Joko Widodo was inaugurated as Indonesia’s new president on Monday, facing the challenges of rebooting a slowing economy and working with a potentially hostile opposition that has already landed some early blows against his administration.

Widodo, the first Indonesian president not to come from the ranks of the country’s established political, business and military elite, took the oath of office in a ceremony at parliament in the capital, Jakarta, attended by regional leaders and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Widodo, popularly known as “Jokowi,” asked everyone in his inauguration address to work together shoulder to shoulder in order to increase prosperity for all.

He ended his speech with a shout of “Merdeka!” or “Freedom,” the independence-era rallying cry associated with the country’s founding president, Sukarno.

A former furniture salesman, 53-year-old Widodo rose from humble beginnings to become Jakarta’s governor before winning July’s presidential election with 53 percent of the vote.

Polls showed most of his support came from lower-income, non-urban Indonesians attracted by his simple demeanour and record of honest, hard work.

Indonesia is the biggest economy in Southeast Asia, and about 90 percent of its 250 (m) million people are Muslims, more than any other nation.

After years of dictatorship, the country was convulsed by political, ethnic and religious unrest in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Since then, it has consolidated its democratic transition.