Indonesia’s President Jokowi to Address United Nations Assembly for the First Time

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo is set to give his maiden speech to the United Nations General Assembly, more than five years after his first term as the country’s head of state.

Unlike other heads of state who made their way through New York's Manhattan traffic to the UN headquarters to deliver their speech, Jokowi’s oration is determined by the Covid-19 pandemic ravaging Indonesia and the rest of the world.

“[The Presidential Secretariat] will be tapping [sic] Jokowi’s speech beforehand, as it will be delivered virtually in line with Covid-19 [health protocols],” said Presidential Secretariat Head Heru Budi Hartono on September 22.

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“It will be played on the UN General Assembly at 8.30pm on September 22 in New York, or 7.30am, September 23 Jakarta time.”

Heru added that President Jokowi will make his speech for the Assembly’s Open Debate session, where he and other heads of state will convey their visions and policies. Heru declined to say what the President will highlight on his speech.

Aside from Jokowi, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Environment and Forestry Ministry Siti Nurbaya, and Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati will also address the UN General Assembly.

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Jokowi has yet to address the UN General Assembly, since he was inaugurated as Indonesia’s seventh President after he won the 2014 presidential elections.

From then until 2019, then-Vice President Jusuf Kalla has gone to New York to deliver the speech to the annual UN General Assembly on Jokowi’s behalf.