961 Regional Heads and Deputy Regional Heads Inaugurated, Prabowo Reminds Regional Leaders that They are Servants of the People

JAKARTA, KOMPAS - President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated 961 regional heads and deputy regional heads resulting from the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Elections at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (20/2/2025). The President reminded the regional leaders that they are servants of the people, and therefore must defend the interests of the people.

The series of inauguration events for regional heads began at around 09.00 WIB. The regional heads and their deputies, who gathered at the National Monument (Monas) square, walked towards the courtyard of the Merdeka Palace. They then stood in line at the inauguration tent that had been prepared in the central courtyard of the Palace.

The inauguration began with the reading of the Presidential Decree and the Decree of the Minister of Home Affairs. The next agenda was the presentation of the Decree and the attachment of the rank insignia of the regional heads, followed by the oath-taking ceremony led by President Prabowo. The President also greeted each regional head and deputy regional head along with their respective spouses.

"Brothers and sisters, I believe this is the first historic moment in our country, we inaugurate 33 Governors, 33 Deputy Governors, 363 Regents, 362 Deputy Regents, 85 Mayors, 85 Deputy Mayors with a total of 961 regional heads from 481 regions. Inaugurated simultaneously at the Merdeka Palace by the Head of State," said Prabowo.

During the simultaneous inauguration of regional heads, the general chairmen and representatives of political parties as well as members of the Merah Putih Cabinet were present. The inauguration was also attended by the Chairpersons of Regional House of Representatives from all over Indonesia, including the regional heads of Aceh who were inaugurated a few weeks ago.

The inauguration of regional heads resulting from this election is the largest in the history of regional head elections (Pilkada). Since direct Pilkada began in 2005, inaugurations have always been held in waves. The timing of the inauguration follows the Pilkada schedule according to the end of the term of each regional head.

Not only that, in the previous inauguration of regional heads, the President only inaugurated the Governor and Deputy Governor which was held in the nation's capital. While the Regent/Deputy Regent and Mayor/Deputy Mayor were inaugurated by the Governor in the provincial capital.

Prabowo continued, the inauguration of the most regional heads this time shows that Indonesia is a great nation and country. Democratic life in Indonesia, especially in the regions, is also running dynamically. "We have a living democracy, a democracy that works, a dynamic democracy," said the President.

Furthermore, the President said, the regional leaders who were inaugurated came from different political parties. They had also completed a campaign that was not easy until finally they succeeded in gaining the trust of the people in each region.

Starting from that, Prabowo reminded that regional leaders are servants of the people. Regional leaders are servants of the people, so they must defend the interests of the people. Regardless of the background of different political parties, religions, and tribes, regional heads and deputy heads must fight to improve the quality of life of the community.

"Brothers and sisters, I would like to remind you on behalf of the Indonesian nation and state that you are elected, you are servants of the people, you are servants of the people. You must defend the interests of the people, you must safeguard the interests of our people. You must fight for the improvement of their lives, that is our duty, that is our task," said the President.

After being inaugurated, the regional leaders will attend a retreat at the Magelang Military Academy (Akmil) complex. The retreat, according to plan, will be held for seven days, starting on Friday (21/2/2025). President Prabowo in his speech also touched on this agenda. "Hopefully you will be strong and trained, those who are hesitant may withdraw," said Prabowo.

Met after the inauguration, West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi said that he would immediately work after being inaugurated. One of the priority issues that will be accelerated is education. Moreover, there are a number of problems that have been waiting, such as illegal levies and violations committed by school principals.

"My first performance is to improve education management in West Java Province, because the issue of PIP (Smart Indonesia Program), illegal levies, study tours, are issues that are very disturbing to the people of West Java," he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor-Deputy Governor of Jakarta, Pramono Anung and Rano Karno will immediately step on the gas after the inauguration and welcoming ceremony as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Jakarta at the Jakarta City Hall. The two will discuss, among other things, the quick wins of the first 100 days and meet the rainbow troops as the vanguard of the Jakarta Provincial Government.

"We do not promise things that are impossible to do. There is the Jakarta Smart Card, Jakarta Healthy, abolition of diploma arrears, starting to prepare the construction of a community hall, adding CCTV (monitoring cameras), free private school trials, to parks in five regions open 24 hours," said Pramono.

This PDI Perjuangan politician will also meet the rainbow troops consisting of the orange troops (Public Infrastructure and Facilities Handling/PPSU), the blue troops (Water Resources Service), the yellow troops (Public Works Service), the green troops (Parks and City Forest Service), and others.

"We want to meet and encourage the work morale of the Jakarta Provincial Government's field troops," said Pramono.

In fact, a total of 505 regional heads and deputy heads were inaugurated in the first wave of inauguration of the results of the 2024 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada). However, of that number, 24 regional heads and deputy heads in Aceh had already been inaugurated because they followed the regulations governing the special status of the province.

Apart from that, there are still 40 regional election results that are still in the process of being disputed at the Constitutional Court (MK). The MK's decision, according to plan, will be read out at the end of February.