Indonesia’s Widodo, Prabowo Share Train Ride After Bitter Feud

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who secured a second term in office, met his rival Prabowo Subianto for the first time since a divisive election in April as the two attempt to put a bitter feud behind them.

The politicians boarded a train from southern Jakarta to the central business district on Saturday morning. In televised speeches after the ride on the new train network, Jokowi, as the president is known, reiterated a call for unity among Indonesians, while Prabowo congratulated him for his election victory.

Prabowo had rejected the election outcome after Jokowi was declared the winner in May, and claimed victory himself. His supporters clashed with police in Jakarta, leading to the worst violence to grip the city since the downfall of the dictator Suharto in 1998, with at least nine people killed and hundreds more injured.

In an interview on Friday, Widodo vowed to implement a wave of reforms to attract foreign investment as he looks to unleash the potential of Southeast Asia’s biggest economy during his second term in office.

To contact the reporter on this story: Harry Suhartono in Jakarta at hsuhartono@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Chan Tien Hin

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