President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right), accompanied by defense minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto, presides over a cabinet meeting on June 24, 2024, at the State Palace in Jakarta. - Photo: Antara file
JAKARTA: Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto will join a cabinet meeting in Nusantara, East Kalimantan, slated for Aug 12.
It is the first cabinet assembly to be held in the future capital city after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo postponed such a gathering during his visit last week.
“I will come. There is no way I’m not coming,” Prabowo told reporters at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Friday (Aug 2), as quoted by kompas.com.
Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono previously announced the plan for the Aug 12 meeting, where he shared that it would be joined by all cabinet ministers.
President Jokowi will fly to Nusantara on Aug 11, the day before the meeting, said Basuki, who is also the acting head of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority.
Jokowi previously planned to hold the cabinet meeting in Nusantara during his visit earlier this week, when he spent several nights at the Garuda Presidential Palace in the new city, a move observers saw as an attempt to dispel concerns over its sluggish development.
The meeting was initially scheduled for Thursday, according to Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, as reported by tempo.co, but the Presidential Palace later told the media that Jokowi would return to Jakarta on Tuesday after spending two nights in the new capital.
On Thursday, Jokowi told reporters he was waiting for all ministers to be available before holding the first cabinet meeting in Nusantara.
The President also cited the readiness of the furniture, electricity and water as a reason for postponing the meeting.
“I’m fine with [the lack of furniture], but everything needs to be ready and complete if we want to host guests,” Jokowi said.
Prabowo, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir and Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo were in Paris at the time, to watch the 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony and to meet with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach to talk about Indonesia’s potential of hosting international-level sporting events, including future Olympic Games.
Prabowo continued his European tour by flying to Serbia, Turkey and Russia.
He met with several heads of state along the trip, namely French President Emmanuel Macron, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The defense minister returned to Jakarta on Thursday, making a trip to the Presidential Palace on Friday to report on his European tour to Jokowi.
“I just landed back in Indonesia yesterday afternoon,” Prabowo said.
“So I asked to visit the President today to report on my foreign visits.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
