Presidential hopeful puts Jokowi’s pet capital on the block

Campaign criticism of the $48bn project could further spook investors already steering clear of what some see as a white elephant.

Anies Baswedan campaigns in Jakarta this week. Picture: AFP

Indonesia’s new capital city is shaping up as an election battleground issue with one of three presidential candidates indicating he does not support the $48bn legacy project of outgoing president Joko Widodo.

As formal campaigning kicked off on Tuesday ahead of February 14 polls, former Jakarta governor and presidential hopeful Anies Baswedan told journalists he feared the new capital, to be known as Nusantara, would create “new inequality”.

“What is needed in Indonesia today is equitable growth where development is carried out not just in one location, but also in many locations,” he said in response to a question over coalition partner Prosperous Justice Party’s opposition to shifting the capital from Jakarta.

“Building one city in the middle of the forest actually creates new disparities, so there is a disconnect between the goal and the steps taken. We see a problem here and it needs to be seriously examined because our goal is an equal Indonesia, a uniformly-developed Indonesia.”

The comments could further spook prospective foreign investors who are already staying away in droves from a project some fear could end up being a very expensive white elephant.

Mr Joko insists moving the capital from Indonesia’s most populated island of Java to east Kalimantan in Borneo would spread wealth and opportunity more equitably, and ease pressure on a sinking and congested Jakarta.

Joko Widodo after spending the night at site for new capital city. Picture: AFP

He has gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure its construction continues after his second and final term ends next October.

Jokowi, as he is known, has weathered criticism over his eldest son Gibran’s candidacy as vice presidential running mate to defence minister and third-time hopeful Prabowo Subianto who has promised to see the new city through to completion.

Former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo has also vowed to continue Jokowi’s policies, but has been losing support to Prabowo since Gibran joined his team.

A CGI of Indonesia's future presidential palace in Nusantara. Picture: AFP

That was made possible last month only after the constitutional court _ headed at the time by Jokowi’s brother-in-law Anwar Usman _ changed eligibility criteria. Anwar has since been censured for failing to recuse himself in the decision, and stood down as chief justice.

Jokowi said on Wednesday that while Anies _ currently polling third in the three-way contest _ was free to express his views, “the new capital city already has its own laws, the regulations are already in place”.

Those laws appear to bind the next president to the project regardless of whether a post-pandemic Indonesia can afford the price tag.

But will they be enough to protect it from the vicissitudes of state budgets and political circumstance?

A couple in stand by their house affected by the construction of a dike in Sepaku, close to the core development region of Indonesia's new capital city in East Kalimantan, on 28 January 2022.

The new “green city” is supposed to be 80 per cent financed through foreign investment, but Jokowi admitted this month that no such investments had yet been secured.

Some analysts have suggested laws protecting Nusantara could be modified or overturned through an emergency presidential regulation, known as a Perppu, though that would still require majority parliamentary support.

Dominique Nicky Fahrizal from Jakarta’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies told The Australian Nusantara could be cancelled through mutual agreement between the president and House of Representatives, if his supporting parties dominated parliament.

Indikator pollster Kennedy Muslim said Nusantara would be a divisive campaign issue, given just over half of all Indonesians surveyed supported the project while one in three did not.

While not an election decider, it was a “perfect conduit for presidential candidates to clarify their electoral positions in this campaign, whether they want to continue Jokowi’s legacy or change course”, he added.

Additional reporting: Dian Septiari