Jokowi sworn in as new Indonesian president
He will face difficulty delivering promised reforms with the opposition controlling majority of parliament seats
Jakarta
THE former governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, took the oath of office on Monday, becoming the seventh president of Indonesia, capping a meteoric rise in less than a decade from life as a furniture business owner hundreds of kilometres from the leafy suburbs of the elite in Jakarta to the head of state of the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Tens of thousands, some decked out in the traditional garb of this massive and diverse archipelago, waved banners, belted out ballads at ear piercing volumes and strained past dozens of protection officers for a chance to shake Jokowi's hand. Jokowi was ferried by throngs of well wishers by horse drawn carriage, its bullet proof glass windows wound down, no doubt by the man who's made accessibility and humility the defining points of his public persona.
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