President Joko Widodo (Image via: Forbes)

President Joko Widodo Will Deliver His Speech at UNGA, for the First Time

After nearly six years in office, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has decided to deliver a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 22^nd-29^th, 2020. This is going to be the first time he delivers a speech at the UNGA.

Foreign minister Retno Marsudi confirmed Jokowi’s decision to participate in the General Assembly and deliver his speech. The president will be delivering his speech in the General Debate session of the UNGA.

“His speech and statement are going to be delivered virtually”, says the Minister. President Joko Widodo is scheduled to give his remarks on September 23^rd, 2020 at 07.30 AM, Jakarta time.

According to Jusuf Kalla, former Vice President of Indonesia, the president’s presence at the meeting is highly crucial since his position as head of state. Kalla gave this opinion when he was still vice president, after he did his final remarks representing Indonesia at the UNGA, on September 27^th, 2019.

President Joko Widodo, he opined, must attend the UNGA himself to deliver the speech. He cannot always be represented by the vice president. Kalla said that his position was outranked by Joko Widodo’s position remembering that he is “only” vice president.

Kalla also admitted that whenever he attended UNGA, other heads of state always asked him Joko Widodo’s whereabouts. This highlights the importance of attending UNGA for heads of state.

It is to be known that since Joko Widodo assumed office in 2014, he had never attended the UNGA. He always delegated the task to former vice president Kalla who was still Indonesian VP back then, until 2019.

Source: https://bit.ly/3mDAbWc