September 13, 2024
JAKARTA – P resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had flown back to the country’s future capital in the jungles of East Kalimantan on Thursday to spend the remaining few weeks of his second and final term, the Presidential Secretariat confirmed in a statement, noting that the outgoing president was scheduled to hold his last cabinet meeting on Friday.
Accompanying the President on his flight to Kalimantan were State Secretary Minister Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Presidential Security Detail commander Maj. Gen. Achiruddin and the Presidential Secretariat’s Protocol, Press and Media Deputy Yusuf Permana.
“President Jokowi will return today to the office in Nusantara,” Yusuf said in the statement released on Thursday. He added that the President would be working in the new city until Oct. 19, the day before he handed over the presidency to his successor Prabowo Subianto .
Presidential spokesperson Hasan Nasbi has previously said major construction on the new presidential palace in Nusantara was finished and ready to accommodate Jokowi until the end of his term in office.
The President had postponed his plans to relocate to Nusantara several times because a number of key infrastructure projects, including the airport, were not ready.
“[Once I move], if I want to go to Papua, it should be [from Nusantara Airport]. If I want to go to East Nusa Tenggara, it should be from Nusantara, and if I want to go to Aceh, it should also be from Nusantara,” Jokowi said late last month.
The President also said he would move immediately to the city upon completion of vital infrastructure.
Following his arrival in Nusantara on Thursday, Jokowi is scheduled to hold a meeting with representatives of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police at the newly built Garuda Palace.
While the laws on relocating the national capital from Jakarta to Nusantara were enacted in 2021, a Presidential Decree on the formal transfer of Indonesia’s capital is yet to be issued.
“[The decree] can be issued by me or the new president,” Jokowi said in June.
In a related development on Wednesday, Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Tandyo Budi led a ceremony in Banjar Baru, South Kalimantan, to swear in 500 volunteers from South, East and North Kalimantan as new members of the TNI Reserve Component (Komcad).
Tandyo said members of the new reserve force, which would be tasked with assisting the TNI in Nusantara, had completed two months of basic training under the Regional Military Command (Kodam) VI/Mulawarman in South Kalimantan.
During the inauguration ceremony, Tandyo passed on a message from Defense Minister and president-elect Prabowo to the new reservists, informing them that Komcad would be part of the nation’s multilayered defense deployment to safeguard the future capital.
“The formation of a reserve component in Kodam VI/Mulawarman is an effort to build national defense in Kalimantan, as well as help secure Nusantara capital city,” Prabowo said in his message, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
“[This is part of] the military’s defense [strategy] in facing enemy aggression that enters water and land areas through a protracted war with integrated quality and guerrilla warfare tactics. This is supported by modern technology involving all elements of national power, including reserve components,” the message continued.
Prabowo also reminded the newly installed Komcad members to obey the prevailing military regulations, including military criminal law, in serving their duty during deployment by the President with the approval of the House of Representatives.
His message also stressed that Komcad members would remain civilians who were subject to the civilian justice system when they were not on reserve duty. “Therefore, you must be able to position yourself in a manner that complies with these [civilian] provisions,” he said.