Jakarta (Antara) - Rp1 billion has been allocated for the upcoming presidential inauguration ceremony, the Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Zulkifli Hsan, said here on Saturday. "The budget for the inauguration has been set at Rp1 billion. It should be as economic as possible," the MPR speaker stated. The budget set for the inauguration of Joko Widodo as Indonesia's seventh president on October 20 is considered economical, given the fact that 1,200 people, including 690 MPR members and representatives of foreign nations, have been invited. "Spending Rp1 billion on an event with 1,200 invitees is reasonable, I think. It's neither too lavish, nor too cheap," he remarked. Hasan presented personal invitations for the presidential inauguration ceremony to dignitaries such as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono and President-elect Joko Widodo, as well as former presidents of the country, Megawati Soekarnoputri and B. J. Habibie. The speaker also met with the Chairman of the Gerindra Party, Prabowo Subianto, PAN Chairman Hatta Rajasa, Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal Bakrie, and Nasdem Chairman Surya Paloh to invite them to the event. Eight foreign heads of states/governments and 10 ministers have confirmed their attendance at the ceremony. Among them are the President of Timor-Leste Taur Matan Ruak, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Nieill, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Haiti Laurent Salvador Lamonthe, and former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda as special envoy of the Japanese government. Other foreign invitees include Deputy Speaker of the Chinese parliament Yan Junqi, Chief of the Vietnamese administration Vu Duc NDu, Foreign Minister of New Zealand Murray McCully, special representatives of South Korea Kim Tae-whan and Ham Jin-kyu, Thai Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn, Dutch special envoy Dr. Tjeek Willink, the U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the British Secretary of State Philip Hammond, and Russian Industry Minister Denis Valentinovich.(*)

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Editor : Chandra Hamdani Noer


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