New Capital City Leader Not Appointed by Election, Bappenas Says

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Development Planning Ministry or Bappenas confirmed that bills on the new capital city have been completed. One of them notes about the mechanism for selecting the leader of the state capital.

“The management of the capital city is directly under the President, so there will be no election for the ‘governor’ of the capital city,” said Bappenas’ Deputy for Regional Development Rudy S. Prawiradinata at his office, Central Jakarta, Thursday, September 2.

He confirmed that the new capital will be led by an authority head who will have the responsibility to ensure that the capital development projects run on time and to manage the running of the government.

The appointment of the authority head will be carried out after the capital authority or Otorita IKN, used to be called the Capital Authority Agency (Badan Otorita), is formed through a presidential regulation (Perpres). Rudy said the government is waiting for the ratification of the bill before issuing the Perpres.

The IKN bill has been included in the National Legislation Program or Prolegnas at the House of Representatives (DPR) and will be deliberated after President Joko Widodo or Jokowi submits a presidential letter or Surpres of the IKN bill.

Rudy stopped short of confirming when the President will issue the letter, predicting that the bill discussion will adjust to the Covid-19 conditions.

After the bill is passed, the government can kickstart the physical construction of the new capital city. Rudy said it was estimated to commence in 2022. The capital city of Jakarta, however, will not be immediately transferred to East Kalimantan. “It depends on the President,” he said.

Read: Bappenas: Impossible to Develop New Capital City in Few Years

FRANCISCA CHRISTY ROSANA