The Fate 2 Gigantic Cities and [emerged of new] ORBA

IKN New Capital City 4.01pm

Imagine new regulation about Jakarta must be enacted [Thursday February 15th, 2024] one day after Indonesia Election [Valentine 2024 / Wednesday February 14th, 2024], biggest - complicated election ONE DAY on earth [even India official overwhelmed how complicated Indonesia election must be done in one day].

February 25, 2024 — less 3 months from now.

A city currently served for 19 million people [11 million of them literally living inside; other 8 million living outside, commuting to work], legendary Jakarta, must be ‘goodbye’ as [de jure] Indonesia capital city on February 15th, 2024, whoever candidate wins the election 1 day before [Valentine 2024], replaced by IKN NUSANTARA, WHICH, estimate must absorb US$ 300 billion for development and infrastructure until 2045. Indonesia has a long-held tradition of facilitating public aspirations, with Jakarta at its center. Jakarta is the center of public aspirations articulation, a witness of several historical democratic events such as the information. 

Jokowi scrambled at home, star syndrome, some people already said Jokowi is ‘Soeharto 2.0’, but like a lot tactic by President or Prime Minister across the world, if difficult moment or scramble at home, using foreign policy may help.

Joko Widodo, popularly as Jokowi, was sworn in as Indonesia’s seventh President in 2014, optimism surrounding the state of democracy in the country seemed at its peak. At a time when dynasties traditionally dominated Indonesia’s political arena, the ascension of Jokowi, who was a carpenter and furniture businessman before becoming the governor of Jakarta, was hailed as a beacon of hope. 

If the start of his presidency heralded high hopes for Indonesian democracy, the end of it—marked by a swanky new capital and the paving of the path for Prabowo and ‘whatever political cost’ to make sure his son Gibran to be VP candidate, to potentially rule from it—has mostly dampened any optimism about the direction in which Indonesia’s democracy is headed.

But again, Prabowo - Gibran only led 2-3 percent in several survey. Everything can happened on Election, February 14th, 2024 or Valentine 2024.

A construction site at Nusantara, where Indonesia is offering greater tax cuts and looser terms for land acquisitions as it struggles to attract investors to its $33 billion new capital project, in East Kalimantan province, on Mar. 8, 2023.Rony Zakaria—Bloomberg/Getty Images

Jokowi’s election almost 10 years ago represented “the height of democracy in Indonesia,” Vishnu Juwono, associate professor in public governance at the University of Indonesia. “He was seen as an outsider, and he’s benefited from the democracy system.”

But as the curtains fall on Jokowi’s decade of rule, he may be remembered more for ushering in a new era of democratic decline. Even his capstone initiative, what was meant to be a sprawling monument to his legacy—the development of a new capital called Nusantara, to replace the existing capital in Jakarta beginning as soon as next year—looks to embody such a backsliding.

Indonesia's President Joko Widodo speaks about the planned new capital Nusantara, at Ecosperity Week in Singapore on June 7, 2023. Edgar Su—Reuters

Since it was announced in 2019, the ambitious project to relocate Indonesia’s capital from the island of Java to the island of Borneo has been mired in skepticism and criticism—from inadequate public consultation to land disputes with indigenous communities to concerns about Chinese investment that critics say is making Nusantara a “New Beijing.”

But a more insidious implication, observers caution, is the undemocratic nature that the new capital, tucked hundreds of miles away from Jakarta and set to operate without elected local leaders, will bring to the fore of what is currently the world’s third largest democracy.

At the beginning of 2020, the Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan even claimed that the Japan-based company Softbank would invest US$100 billion in IKN. Alas, this plan fell through in 2022 when the company withdrew from the project. Disregarding the polarized public opinion on this highly important program.

The government was also too hasty in submitting the State Capital Bill at the end of 2021 to the House of Representatives. The preparation seemed rushed and perfunctory, despite the status of this megaproject that will affect Indonesia economically, socially, and politically. Moving a State Capital requires a long time and an enormous amount of budget.