If anyone asks us why we’d want to be top government officials in Indonesia, the first answer that comes to mind is “so that our motorcade consisting of large police cars and motorcycles with intimidating sirens can help us bypass traffic jams.”
While motorcade abuse seems very common in Indonesia, there are at least a few government officials who don’t take advantage of that perk (unless they’ve actually got a legitimate matter of pressing national importance to justify it). And there is evidence circulating online that seems to show that the top government official, President Joko Widodo, is one of those rare few.
A viral photo, uploaded on Twitter on January 31 by @interMALEM, shows the Indonesian presidential car, which is easily identifiable by its famous “RI 1” license plate, seemingly waiting in traffic with everybody else.
That said, it doesn’t appear that security protocol were neglected here, as one of the two men on the motorcycle at the foreground of the photo can be seen carrying an automatic rifle. In subsequent tweets, @interMALEM also said that, outside the frame, there were other cars protecting RI 1.
On January 27, a Facebook user also photographed the RI 1 mingling with commoners’ cars in traffic, this time at a traffic jam on what appears to be Jakarta’s busy Jalan Sudirman.
Here, more security vehicles are visible, but the OP wrote that they didn’t even blare their sirens, let alone carve a way for the presidential car to pass through.
However, there is no evidence proving that Jokowi was actually in the car in either photo. The president’s office has not commented on the viral photos either.
One of the reasons Jokowi won the country’s top office is that he sold himself as a true man of the people. These photos clearly add to that perception, with numerous netizens saying that they are proud to have such a humble president.
Yet some also suggested that it’s dangerous for RI 1 to be stuck in traffic, which could make it a sitting duck for those who wanted to attack the president. Also, many would say the president’s motorcade deserves to always be given priority on the road, considering the importance of the head of state’s job.
And if the president’s motorcade merges into traffic as adorably as Japanese PM Shinzo Abe’s, then we promise we won’t be mad.
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