White-Blue Nuances at the Inauguration of Regional Heads

The sun was almost setting when several people unloaded hundreds of bundles of white roses from a pickup truck at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, on Wednesday evening (19/2/2025). The white flowers, brought from the Rawa Belong Flower Market in West Jakarta, were then taken to the central courtyard of the Palace.

Some other workers then arranged the flowers for decoration in the large white tent with blue patterns. Several other workers were also busy arranging chairs to fill the tent, which has a capacity of more than 1,000 people.

"All white, yes, that's what the Mayor and the sir asked for," said one of the decoration officers.

The workers are racing against time to prepare the location that will be used for the inauguration of regional heads resulting from the 2024 regional elections (Pilkada). They are scheduled to be inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto on Thursday (20/2/2025) at 10:00 AM.

"All white, yes, that's what the Mayor and the sir asked for," said one of the decoration officers.

The simultaneous inauguration of hundreds of regional heads is the first time in the history of regional elections in Indonesia. All regional heads came to the Palace to be inaugurated directly by the President.

They have even conducted two rehearsals for the inauguration. The initial rehearsal was held on Tuesday (18/2/2025), while the final rehearsal took place on Wednesday (19/2/2025), or a day before the inauguration.

The series of inaugurations will begin from the National Monument area. The regional heads will walk towards the central courtyard of the Palace at 09.45 AM WIB. The inauguration ceremony is scheduled to start at 10.00 AM WIB. The regional heads have even been invited to march in formation to ensure unity when walking towards the Palace.

A giant tent has been erected in the central courtyard between the Merdeka Palace and the State Palace to welcome the regional heads. The white tent with a ceiling of combined white and light blue fabric serves as a shelter for all the regional heads to be inaugurated, the attending ministers, the President and Vice President, as well as the covering journalists.

The tent has been standing solidly since the beginning of this week. The white tent with blue nuances will be used as the inauguration venue for 481 regional head pairs from the 2024 Pilkada.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Bima Arya Sugiarto, said that President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to directly inaugurate the 481 regional head pairs. This simultaneous inauguration is the first in history, considering that usually the President only inaugurates governors/deputy governors at the Presidential Palace. Meanwhile, regents/deputy regents and mayors/deputy mayors are inaugurated by the governor in their respective provincial capitals.

He continued, all regional heads and deputy regional heads who will be inaugurated will wear the grand ceremonial uniform (PDUB). The white clothing is usually also used during the inauguration of regional heads and is in harmony with the decoration of the inauguration venue at the Palace.

Bima said that the simultaneous inauguration will also be attended by 24 pairs of regional heads throughout Aceh who have been inaugurated previously. They will be present to witness, not to be inaugurated because the inauguration was carried out several weeks ago in accordance with Aceh's special status. The inauguration of the governor/deputy governor of Aceh has been carried out by the Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian in Aceh. Meanwhile, the regents/deputy regents and mayors/deputy mayors throughout Aceh were inaugurated by the governor of Aceh.

"We also invited the DPRD Chairmen from all regions to witness the simultaneous inauguration of regional heads at the Palace," said Bima Arya.

The inauguration of nearly 500 regional heads simultaneously is historic. Because, this simultaneous inauguration also means the presence of thousands of people in the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, similar to the August 17 celebrations that are often held.

In the calculation, the guests who will attend the Palace will be around 2,400 people. This number consists of 481 regional heads, 481 deputy regional heads, a representative of the DPRD from 481 regions, and invitees such as ministers and heads of institutions. Each regional head and deputy head can also be accompanied by a partner.

Because it involves thousands of guests, the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres) are not playing around. Ring one must still be guarded as well as possible.

"I deployed 300 personnel. Members of all groups in Paspampres were deployed because many points had to be secured, including Monas," said Paspampres Commander Major General Achiruddin.

Identification of all guests is done as early as possible. Every head/deputy head and his/her spouse are checked upon arrival at Monas. After waiting in the waiting room, verification is carried out again for the heads and deputy heads of regions who will be in procession to the Palace.

At the Palace, said the Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media, Presidential Secretariat, Yusuf Permana, the regional heads were not only inaugurated. They will also listen to the mandate delivered directly by the President. "(The series of inaugurations at the Palace) marks a new chapter in regional governance," he said.

This moment, according to Yusuf, is also a manifestation of the central government's commitment to creating a regional government that is more effective, efficient, transparent, and oriented towards public services.

Hopefully the commitment will not stop at just a historic grand ceremony. But also be realized in regional development work.