News Focus - IT IS TIME FOR NEW JAKARTA GOVERNOR TO WORK HARD by Fardah

       Jakarta, Oct 18 (Antara)   After waiting for six months, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated Anies Rasyid Baswedan and Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno respectively as the Jakarta governor and deputy governor for 2017-2022 term at the State Palace on Oct 16.
             Baswedan and Uno, both aged 48, won the Jakarta gubernatorial election in April 2017 after competing with incumbent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) and Djarot Hidayat in a run-off election.
             Their victory in the election was officially announced by the General Election Commission of Jakarta on May 5, 2017.
             The Jakarta Metro Jaya Police and Military Command had deployed some seven thousand personnel to guard the inauguration of the new Jakarta governor. The joint police and military team guarded the palace and the City Hall, the office of Jakarta's governor.
             During the ceremony broadcast live on television, Baswedan, dressed in a white uniform, pledged to perform his duties to the best of his abilities during his five-year term.
             Following the inauguration, Baswedan, the former education minister and university rector, said with the conclusion of the campaign phase and the inauguration, it is now time to focus on work and on fulfilling the promises he had made while campaigning for the regional head election.
             Baswedan and Uno, a successful businessman, will have to work hard to fulfill their 23 campaign promises that include zero down payment for housing schemes and entrepreneurial programs to create 200 thousand new jobs.
             Uno had earlier said entrepreneurial programs are crucial to solving the unemployment problem in the capital city.  
        From the palace, the new governor and deputy governor headed to the Jakarta City Hall where thousands of well-wishers were waiting to greet and congratulate them.            
        "We can't wait to get to work right away. We have been waiting for six months. Insha Allah, Jakarta will be better," Baswedan said in his first official speech as governor after a handover ceremony at the City Hall during which his predecessor Hidayat was away on vacation in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara Province.

             Jakarta has a long-standing history, dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. Jakarta had a close encounter with colonialism, and the nation's independence was proclaimed in Jakarta in 1945, he recalled in his address.
             Indonesia had been colonized by the Dutch for some 350 years and by Japan for around 3.5 years.      
        In the past, indigenous people had been oppressed and defeated.  
        "Now, (we are) free, and it is time to become the host in our own country," he affirmed.
             Jakarta is the capital of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia; hence it should serve as a mirror and showcase the spirit of the country and state ideology of Pancasila (Five Principles) as well as uphold the Constitution, he emphasized.
             "In this city, Pancasila must be applied in the day-to-day life of the people. Every principle of Pancasila must become a reality," he affirmed.
             Indonesia is not a country based on one religion, but it is also not a secular country, he added.
             On the occasion, Baswedan also thanked all former governors of Jakarta, including those who had governed Jakarta over the last five years: Joko Widodo for the 2012-2014 term, Ahok during the 2014-2017 term, and Djarot Saeful Hidayat in 2017.
            Baswedan has vowed to be a governor to every Jakartan. As the Jakarta governor, he said, he will work for all who voted for him and Uno as well as those who did not, and for the haves as well as for those seeking to improve their welfare in the capital city.
            "As the Jakarta governor, I will work for all," he said, calling for unity among all Jakartans.
            Born on May 7, 1969, in Kuningan, West Java, Baswedan is the first son of Rasyid Baswedan, an economics lecturer at Indonesia's Islamic University, and Prof. Dr. Aliyah Rasyid, M.Pd, a dean and lecturer at the State University of Yogyakarta.
            His grandfather is Abdurrachman Baswedan (AR Baswedan), a national freedom fighter and Indonesia's first information minister after the country declared independence in 1945.
            Baswedan earned a doctorate in political science from the Northern Illinois University in 2005, a masters in public policy from the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, and a business management degree from the University of Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta.
            In 2008, US magazine Foreign Policy named him among its top 100 public intellectuals in the world and the World Economic Forum included him among its Young Global Leaders 2009. In April 2010, Tokyo-based international affairs magazine Foresight named him in its "20 Persons 20 Years" issue.
            In July 2010, Jordan's Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre listed him among its worldwide 500 Most Influential Muslims. In November 2010, Turkey's PASIAD awarded him with the PASIAN Education Award for his efforts to boost education in the rural areas of Indonesia.
            He was one of Indonesia's youngest university rectors while serving his term at Jakarta's Paramadina University for seven years, from 2007 to 2014
       In 2014, he was appointed by President Jokowi as the culture and education minister and served until July 2016.
    (f001/INE)
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