State Palace to be Relocated to New Capital City in 2024, says President
Regarding who would be appointed as the head of the new capital city as an autonomous region, President Jokowi stopped short of mentioning a name. Instead, he simply listed a number of criteria for the new post.
The Nagara Rimba Nusa design won the new national capital (IKN) competition in East Kalimantan which was announced at the PUPR Office Auditorium, Jakarta, Monday (23/12/2019).
In addition to the State Palace, four institutions are to be relocated to the new capital city in the initial phase of the project. The relocation of the nation's capital is part of a grand strategic plan for economic equitability and is expected to act as a magnet for digital talents.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The mega project will see the nation's capital city relocated in stages and is expected to take about 15 to 20 years to complete. In the initial phase in 2024, apart from the State Palace, four institutions are to be relocated to the country’s new administrative seat across the regencies of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kartanegara in East Kalimantan.
The four institutions are the home, foreign and defense ministries as well as the State Secretariat according to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who made the disclosure during a meeting with the editors-in-chief of select mass media at the State Palace on Wednesday (19/1/2022).
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The relocation of the nation’s capital city should not be seen only as the physical relocation and development of institutions but, as the President emphasized, the nation’s aspiration to develop a new mindset with the new capital to be designed as a green innovation and technology-based administrative center.
International-standard hospitals and universities would also be built soon, supported by an established and large database network. "We want the new nation's capital city to become a magnet for innovative digital talents," the President said.
The relocation of the capital city was also seen as a new strategy to generate equitable economic growth in the country, with development no longer centered on Java. "At present, the big burden is on Java," he said.
The development of the new capital city would entail the government empowering local indigenous communities who, according to the President, had been concerned about being overlooked. "I have spoken with the customary elders there," said the President.
The President believed that the mega project would be sustained until it was completed, despite future changes in the state’s administrative regime, given the fact that the plan to relocate the capital city was mandated by a newly enacted law. He said it should not be viewed as an isolated presidential policy, but the people’s aspirations through the law’s ratification by the House of Representatives (DPR). All but the Prosperous Justice Party faction approved the passage of the Capital City Relocation Bill into law. "We have a shared spirit," the President said.
Regarding who would be appointed as the head of the new capital city as an autonomous region, President Jokowi stopped short of mentioning a name. Instead, he simply listed a number of criteria for the new post.
President Joko Widodo visited one of the areas prepared to be the location for the relocation of the capital in Tumbang Talaken Village, Manuhing District, Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan, on Wednesday (8/5/2019).
“Perhaps someone who has a background in architecture. Someone who has a leadership record [in administration] could perform even better. So we hope, though the reality could be different," said the President, laughing and gesturing.
Legal argument
Regarding special administrative authority for the capital city, Mardyanto, a researcher on regional autonomy at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), cautioned that lawmakers, consisting of the government and the DPR, would be able to present strong legal arguments over a special capital city authority in a case before the Constitutional Court. Lawmakers had pointed to Articles 18 and 18B of the 1945 Constitution as a reference, he said, but they might have drawn a provisional interpretation that was different from the true constitutional meaning.
"Special [administrative] areas don’t run to that, because even though it is a special or exclusive region, it still has autonomy politically, fiscally, and administratively. It is different from the concept of a capital city administration that lacks autonomy," he said.
There will be no election or regional legislature (DPRD) in the administrative structure of the new capital city.
In the Capital City Relocation Bill, which the House passed into law on Tuesday (18/1), the administrative authority of the new capital city will belong to a ministerial-level official appointed by the President instead of being publicly elected. There will be no election or regional legislature (DPRD) in the administrative structure of the new capital city.
The Capital City Relocation Law is subject to a judicial review, an option currently being discussed by academics and civilians in East Kalimantan. Herdiansyah Hamzah, a law lecturer at Mulawarman University in Samarinda, viewed that the government and the DPR had forced the enactment of the Capital City Relocation Law. This was seen in the fact that the DPR had allowed just 43 days for its deliberation, and without public participation.
Among the questionable provisions is Article 10, which regulates the terms of office for the administrative head and deputy head of the new capital city. The article, said Herdiansyah, did not limit the administrative terms of the city’s leaders. He argued that appointments that could only be made by a sitting president would involve minimal public participation and be at risk of the president's subjective motives and judgment.
President Joko Widodo's entourage crossed the forest area that will be the location of the new nation's capital city.
Opposition to the bill’s ratification was also voiced by the East Kalimantan Community Coalition Against the Capital City (Jatam Kaltim). Coalition member Pradarma Rupang said that the deliberation of the bill had procedural flaws, as it lacked public participation. Public consultation over the bill had in fact been held, he conceded, “but it was a closed, limited event and did not involve the residents who would be directly affected”.
"The government made the same mistake as [it did] when ratifying the omnibus law [on Job Creation]," said Rupang. (SUT/REK/CIP/HLN/DEA)
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
