Celebration without ex-presidents<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Megawati Soekarnoputri led her first
\nindependence day ceremony at Merdeka Palace on Friday, the same
\nday her father Sukarno declared Indonesia's independence 56 years
\nago.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's three surviving former presidents, Soeharto, B.J.
\nHabibie and Abdurrahman Wahid, did not attend the celebration,
\nwhich involved around 5,000 guests representing various sections
\nof society, including war veterans and foreign envoys.<\/p>\n
According to the celebration committee's chairman, Mastuf
\nBasyuni, Soeharto could not attend the event due to his poor
\nhealth, Habibie was overseas and Abdurrahman was not well.<\/p>\n
In fact, Abdurrahman attended another independence day
\ncelebration at Al Munawaroh Islamic boarding school near his home
\nin Ciganjur, South Jakarta. The celebration involved street
\nchildren, street vendors and other socially disadvantaged people.<\/p>\n
The ceremony at Merdeka Palace began at 10:00 a.m., marked by
\nthe sound of a siren and a 17-gun salute. The ringing of bells
\nfrom the nearby Catholic Cathedral and beating drums from the
\nIstiqlal Grand Mosque also heralded the event.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais read the
\ntext of the Proclamation, followed by a minute of silence led by
\nMegawati to honor the nation's heroes.<\/p>\n
The national flag was then raised by a group of high school
\nstudents selected from across the country.<\/p>\n
Megawati handed over a red-and-white flag to Kartika
\nNoviastuti (photo above) of Taruna Nusantara high school,
\nMagelang, Central Java.<\/p>\n
For the first time since Independence Day in 1945, the
\nnation's original flag, which was sewed by Megawati's mother
\nFatmawati, was not presented to the president at the ceremony due
\nto its fragile condition.<\/p>\n
The original flag, currently kept in Sukarno's bedroom at
\nMerdeka Palace, has not been hoisted since 1968.<\/p>\n
After the ceremony, Megawati hosted a small celebration with
\nwar veterans and later in the evening, after she presided over
\nthe lowering of the flag, a state reception was held at the
\npalace. (dja)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/celebration-without-ex-presidents-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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