Starting his victory speech with a special
tribute to his rivals, Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa, on Tuesday evening,
president-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on the nation to unite again after
the divisive presidential race, saying that a unified nation would help create
a new Indonesia.
Jokowi
did not touch on Prabowo’s decision to reject the results of the election, due
to the latter’s allegations of massive vote rigging despite failing to come up
with concrete evidence to support the allegations. Hatta had earlier distanced
himself from Prabowo and hinted that he conceded defeat to Jokowi and Kalla.
“We
highly appreciate and thank Bapak Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa who have
been our friends in the political competition,” the Jakarta governor said in
his speech aboard a traditonal phinisi ship in Sunda Kelapa Port in North
Jakarta.
His
aides said Jokowi intentionally chose the ship as the venue to address the
nation as a symbol of his strong determination to realise his campaign promise
to create a strong maritime future for Indonesia. In an earlier TV debate with
Prabowo, Jokowi outlined an ambitious programme to revive the country’s
maritime status.
In his
speech, Jokowi insisted his victory, with his running mate Jusuf Kalla,
belonged to the whole nation — not simply to those people who had voted for the
pair, but also to those who wanted Prabowo and Hatta Rajasa to lead the nation
for the 2014-2019 period.
“In the
last few months our differences in political choices were reason to divide us,”
said Jokowi, adding that his victory in the election “was a victory for the
entire Indonesian people and we hope that with this win [...] we will be
sovereign in politics and self-sustaining in economics and [build] character in
culture.”
The
former Surakarta mayor also emphasised the urgent need for families, friends,
relatives and neighbors who had made different political choices in the
election to end their divisions and heal the wounds caused by the presidential
race.
Politics
should be made a source of joy, good deeds and liberation, said Jokowi, who
will succeed outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in October. The
election had also revived the lost spirit of voluntarism and togetherness in
society because people found new hope in their lives, he said.
Jokowi
added that under his leadership as the country’s president, with Jusuf Kalla as
his deputy, the Indonesian people would be able to enter a new era. And this
goal could only be reached, he said, when the nation was strongly united and
working together, each according to their position in society.
Therefore
he urged his supporters and Prabowo’s supporters to return to their daily lives
and forget the bitterness of the election.
“From
now on, farmers return to the rice fields, traders to the markets, labourers to
the factories, employees to their offices,” said Jokowi.
“Forget
number 1 [Prabowo] and number 2 [Jokowi]. Let us become a united Indonesia, a
great Indonesia,” said Jokowi.
Margareth
S. Aritonang
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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