August 8, 2024
JAKARTA – President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is set to hold the first plenary cabinet meeting in the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) next week to discuss the transition to his successor’s government despite uncertainties about whether president-elect Prabowo Subianto will continue the new capital project.
Next week’s meeting will be the first assembly of all ministers to be held at the new Garuda Palace in the future capital after Jokowi postponed a gathering during his visit last week.
State Secretary Pratikno said on Tuesday that the meeting would discuss several agenda items, including an evaluation of the work of the Jokowi administration in its final year and the transition to the incoming Prabowo administration. Currently the defense minister, president-elect Prabowo is scheduled to attend the meeting.
“Discussions in a plenary session are often more general in nature, such as planning for next year and this year’s evaluations,” Pratikno said. “[I’d say the meeting in Nusantara will also discuss] the transition to the president-elect Prabowo, especially given that this is the final [part of] President Jokowi’s administration.”
Jokowi previously planned to hold the meeting in Nusantara during his visit earlier last week when he spent several nights at the Garuda Palace, a move observers saw as an attempt to dispel concerns over its sluggish development.
The cabinet meeting was initially scheduled for last Thursday, according to a minister. But many other ministers were on work trips abroad at the time.
The President told reporters he was waiting for all ministers to be available before holding the first cabinet meeting in Nusantara, while also citing the readiness of the furniture, electricity and water as a reason for postponing the meeting. Jokowi returned to Jakarta on Tuesday last week after spending only two nights in the new capital.
In addition to the cabinet meeting, Jokowi will also host a gathering in Nusantara with hundreds of regional leaders on Tuesday next week, where the President will give directives on “ensuring security and maintaining neutrality ahead and during November’s regional elections”, according to Presidential Secretariat head Heru Budi Hartono.
Heru said regional heads would also receive instructions about implementing the regional short- and long-term development plans, Antara reported.
The plenary cabinet meeting and regional leaders gathering will take place less than a week before Jokowi is scheduled to commemorate Independence Day in Nusantara on Aug. 17 in parallel with another ceremony in Jakarta.
The Palace said it will invite all the living former presidents, including Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, to the Independence Day ceremony in Nusantara, noting, however, that they are also welcome to attend the celebration in Jakarta if they prefer.
By Tuesday, State Secretary Pratikno said he could not yet confirm their attendance because the Palace was still in the process of sending out the invitation.
The coming Independence Day celebrations in Nusantara were initially supposed to mark the start of the relocation of the capital from the sinking and congested Jakarta to Nusantara. But Jokowi has postponed signing a presidential decree designating the IKN the new capital, amid multiple construction delays, a lack of foreign investment and managerial and land issues that have hampered the construction of the new city.
Jokowi has opened the possibility of the decree being signed by his successor Prabowo after he leaves office in October. Prabowo has pledged to continue developing the new capital, but observers said he has not shown as much interest in accelerating the project because of fiscal constraints.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Nusantara, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Hadi Tjahjanto said that the construction of the Garuda Palace, which is expected to provide the backdrop for the Independence Day celebration, has been completed.
“The Garuda Palace and the field in front of it are ready to be used for the Independence Day ceremony,” Hadi said, adding that “the ceremony in Nusantara will be an important milestone in Indonesian history”.