President Joko Widodo Leads the Indonesian Independence Day Ceremony

JAKARTADAILY.ID – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) leads the commemoration ceremony of the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace Courtyard, Jakarta, Wednesday morning, August 17, 2022.

At this year's ceremony, President Jokowi accompanied by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo wore traditional Dolomani clothing from Buton, Southeast Sulawesi Province. Meanwhile, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and Mrs. Wury Ma'ruf Amin wore traditional Banten Province clothes.

 “This is a shirt from Buton, Southeast Sulawesi. This is Dolomani's shirt from Buton," said President Jokowi.

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According to President Jokowi, Indonesia has a very high wealth of cultural customs, including in terms of traditional clothing. For this reason, the President will continue to raise the various traditional clothes to be worn on various occasions.

 “In the past, Aceh, West Sumatra, South Kalimantan, Sunda, Java, Betawi, then Bali, Sasak, Bugis, have been there. Indeed, the cultural wealth of this traditional dress is indeed thousands. There are thousands. Later, when we get to Maluku, Papua, we will lift everything up later," said the President on the 75th anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia.

RI Independence Ceremony Procession

Before the ceremony begins, a cultural carnival is held which is a procession to carry a duplicate of the red and white heirloom flag and the text of the proclamation from the storage area in the Independence Room in the Monas Cup to the Merdeka Palace.

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The ceremony began with 17 cannon fires, followed by the sound of sirens for a minute.

Chairman of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) RI La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti read the text of the proclamation which was 77 years ago uttered by the proclaimer Ir. Sukarno.

Furthermore, President Jokowi as the ceremony inspector led the participants in the ceremony to observe a moment of silence. Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas then guided the reading of the prayer.

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For information, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two years earlier the Commemoration of the Seconds of the Proclamation ceremony in the Merdeka Palace courtyard was only attended by limited participants while other invited guests attended via video conference. However, this year, in commemoration of the 77th Anniversary of the Republic of Indonesia, invitees can attend directly at the Merdeka Palace.