Jakarta Governor Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo leads the Indonesia’s 69th Independence Day ceremony held at Monas Field, Central Jakarta, Sunday (8/17).

May God give inner and outer strength to build Indonesia and Jakarta that we love. Merdeka! The biggest wisdom is to preserve the value of struggle to build a prosperous nation

Accompanied by wife Iriana, Jokowi arrived at Monas at 7.30 AM in black suit, red tie, and black peci (praying cap). They were then directly heading to the podium where Jakarta Vice Governor Basuki T Purnama and wife Veronika Tan already seated.

The ceremony is attended by thousands of Jakarta Provincial Government’s civil servants as well as representatives from TNI, police, students, scouts, non-governmental organizations, et cetera.

In his speech, Jokowi said that the spirit of proclamation has made the 2014 general elections run well.

“The theme of this year’s independence day anniversary is that with the spirit of proclamation, we support election succession for the sake of advance and prosperous Indonesia. We have to continuously strengthen democratic transition and enhance the process,” he stated.

Moreover, Jokowi also thanked the citizens for making the elections run successfully. Such thing is seen from high number of citizens casting their votes.

“The amount of citizens casting their votes reached 72 percent. For that, Jakarta Provincial Government expressed gratitude to the citizens who have contributed, thus the election this year run safely,” he uttered.

And in his closing statement, Jokowi greeted everyone a happy anniversary of Indonesia Independence Day.

“May God give inner and outer strength to build Indonesia and Jakarta that we love. Merdeka! (Independence!). The biggest wisdom is to preserve the value of struggle to build a prosperous nation,” he told.

After the ceremony, Jokowi goes straight to the State Palace to join in the ceremony with Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY).