President Joko "Jokowi” Widodo (centre) pours water brought by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (right), as East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor (third left) looks on, during a Kendi Nusantara ritual at the site for Indonesia's new capital city Nusantara in Sepaku district, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on March 14, 2022. - Jakarta Post/ANN
JAKARTA, July 24 (Jakarta Post/ANN): Indonesia's Constitutional Court has further smoothed the way for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's ambitious project of relocating the nation’s capital after it rejected petitions to repeal the Capital City Law amid growing public concerns.
Three plaintiffs had filed a petition in the court asking for a review of the new Capital City Law, arguing that its speedy deliberation at the House of Representatives was unconstitutional – a throwback to what also happened to the Job Creation Law.
Reading out its ruling in a hearing presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman on Wednesday, the court concluded that the plaintiffs' petitions were “legally groundless”
“The verdict rejects all the plaintiffs' petitions," said Anwar, who in May married Idayati, the younger sister of President Jokowi.
The House of Representatives passed the new capital city bill into law in January to relocate the Indonesian capital to a site deep within the jungle of East Kalimantan, an idea the country's leaders have been contemplating for years for more equitable growth in the nation.
The law itself provides a legal framework for the relocation and stipulates how the capital – named Nusantara, a Javanese term for the Indonesian archipelago – will be funded and governed.
The court's justices said the evidence provided by petitioners was insufficient, arguing that the government and the House had consulted about the relocation with community leaders, non-governmental organizations and experts on constitutional law to indigenous peoples' groups.
‘Siding with oligarchs’
Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University former rector Azyumardi Azra, who is among a group of academics and public figures — including Didin S Damanhuri, an economist of IPB University and Din Syamsuddin, a former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second-largest Islamic organization that backed Jokowi in the 2019 election — challenging the law, said that the group was aggrieved by the ruling.
Azyumardi said the ruling was a reflection of the court’s growing tendency to decide in favor of the government, pointing out that the new capital project was full of the interests of political and business oligarchs.
“We are of course disappointed. It is the Constitutional Court itself that ruled any legislative process must be carried out with meaningful public participation.
It is very unfortunate that the court is siding with the oligarchs rather than maintaining the dignity of the nation,” Azyumardi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Azyumardi stressed that his group was not against the relocation but believed that it was not the right time to build a new capital city as the country has a sizable level of debt as the economic effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“There is no guarantee that the next government will continue the project. There is no certainty. The funds used for the relocation until the final year of Jokowi's administration will be a waste,” Azyumardi added.
Another petitioner challenging the law was a group dubbed the National Axis for State Sovereignty (PNKN) – who among its petitioners are former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) advisor Abdullah Hehamahua and former regional councilor Marwan Batubara – and a citizen Phiodias Mathias.
‘As soon as possible’
In late May, the court also dismissed four requests filed by former KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas, the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) and the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), arguing they did not have a clear legal standing and had passed the 45-days deadline after the law was promulgated.
In a closed meeting on Wednesday, Jokowi instructed his aides to immediately complete the preparation for the new capital city’s construction.
The meeting was attended by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Home Minister Tito Karnavian, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
"The president instructed us to [complete] the preparation as soon as possible so that we can keep the target on the track, in which we will launch in 2024," Bambang Susantono, head of the new capital authority, who also attended the meeting said in a press briefing.
Bambang said land clearing and consolidation as well as preparation for logistic access were underway, while construction on infrastructure and core buildings will begin in August. - Jakarta Post/ANN
