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JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia's notorious traffic congestion was on display for the world Thursday (Oct 5) after the country's president was forced to walk 2km through the scorching heat to attend a military parade.
The country's traffic nightmares were aptly illustrated when President Joko Widodo had to walk more than 2km to attend a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesian military's founding.
He and senior government officials were held up by gridlock as they approached the military parade in Cilegon, a port city about two-and-a-half hours drive from the capital Jakarta, the presidential palace said.
fter a 30-minute wait, "the president then decided from inside the car that he would walk," his guard Ili Dasili said in a statement.
National police chief Tito Karnavian, who was also stuck in the jam, joined the president.
Video footage shows the president walking with a phalanx of security personnel while spectators yell and chant his name.
The president's unorthodox entrance wasn't lost on social media users, who questioned why the leader of South-east Asia's largest economy was compelled to walk to the event.
http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se...idodo-forced-to-walk-2km-to-avoid-traffic-jam
