Governor of Jakarta sworn-in, pledges to represent all

By Ainur Rohmah

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AA) - Anies Baswedan was formally inaugurated as the governor of Jakarta on Monday following a divisive and religiously-charged election campaign earlier in the year.

The former education minister and his deputy, Sandiaga Uno, were sworn-in by President Joko Widodo at the State Palace in the capital of the most populous Muslim nation in the world.

In a ceremony broadcast live on television, Baswedan, dressed in a white uniform, pledged to perform his duties to the best of his abilities during his five-year term.

The governor and his deputy then headed to celebrations around City Hall, where Baswedan is due to deliver his first speech.

Around 7,000 police and troops were deployed for the inauguration and the celebrations, the Antara news agency reported.

Baswedan, 48, defeated incumbent Basuki Tjahaya Purnama in a second round of voting in April following a series of mass rallies calling for Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, to be jailed for remarks he made in which he said Muslim voters were being “deceived”.

Purnama was convicted on charges of insulting clergy and the Quran during a speech in September last year that triggered uproar across Indonesia.

Later in a bid to clarify his remarks, the governor said he had referred to "certain politicians" who had misused the Quran to influence voters not to choose a non-Muslim as a politician. In May, he was jailed for two years for blasphemy.

Baswedan, a Muslim, was supported by the opposition Gerindra Party and Prosperous Justice Party, as well as conservative clerics.

He was also backed by retired Gen. Prabowo Subianto, who narrowly lost to Widodo in a 2014 presidential vote and is expected to challenge for the presidency again.

“The governor of Jakarta is the governor for all, both for those who choose and [those] who did not vote,” Baswedan said at his inauguration. “Now is the time for us to fulfill our promises.”

The new governor has pledged a program of cheap housing and new jobs for Jakarta’s more than 10 million residents.