Anies will cancel capital city relocation if elected, says PKS president

Anies Baswedan, former Jakarta governor and candidate in next year's presidential election, and his running mate Muhaimin Iskandar, who is the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), pose as they register at the General Election Commission headquarters in Jakarta on Oct 19, 2023. - Reuters

JAKARTA: The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) president Ahmad Syaikhu has said presidential candidate Anies Baswedan will discontinue the capital city relocation project from Jakarta to Nusantara Capital City (IKN) if elected.

"This stance originates from the PKS' aspirations. Whether the upcoming president will accommodate this suggestion or not, we hope Pak Anies will implement it and other parties will understand this concern," said Syaikhu on Sunday (Nov 26), as quoted by CNN Indonesia.

Syaikhu said his party would discuss the matter with other member parties from the Coalition for Change and Unity (KPP) electoral alliance and Anies' running mate, Abdul Muhaimin "Cak Imin" Iskandar, to achieve a consensus.

Despite retaining Jakarta's status as the capital city if it wins the 2024 election, the alliance does not plan to scrap the entire IKN project and instead it will turn the city into Indonesia's economic hub.

"We will turn IKN into a green economy-based economic growth hub because of the region's role as the ‘lungs’ of Indonesia and of the world," said Syaikhu.

Separately, National Awakening Party (PKB) vice chairman Jazilul Fawaid said his party wanted to see whether the alliance won the elections before deciding the fate of the IKN project.

“That is why we want to have them [Anies and Cak Imin] win the election first so they can make the best decision [concerning the IKN project],” said Jazilul on Sunday, as quoted by Kompas.

Jazilul also criticised the project from a moral standpoint, saying many Indonesian citizens still lived in poverty as the IKN project continued.

Anies regards the construction of the new capital city as problematic as it is prone to causing new wealth inequality across the region.

"If we want to balance wealth equality in Indonesia, IKN is not the answer. If we want to do it [balancing the economy], we must turn small towns into medium cities and medium cities into large cities across Indonesia," said Anies during an open dialogue at Surakarta Muhammadiyah University last week. - The Jakarta Post/ANN