Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s New Capital and Legacy Are in Limbo

As Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, popularly often known as Jokowi, closes the curtains on his decade-long presidency, together with his successor’s inauguration set for Oct. 20, he’s racing to lift the curtain on Nusantara, the nation’s future capital and his pet challenge that has discovered itself in peril. 

Indonesia’s Independence Day on Aug. 17 was purported to mark the inauguration of the brand new high-tech and inexperienced capital. However when the day arrived, solely a scaled-back celebration was held on the presidential palace in Nusantara, with simply 1,300 of the of the initially deliberate 8,000 attendees, surrounded by half-completed buildings. (One other ceremony happened concurrently tons of of miles away in Jakarta, the present capital.) Whereas 12,000 civil servants had been scheduled to maneuver in by September, solely a fraction of their designated residences have been constructed; water and electrical energy provides had been solely recently made accessible; and funding flows to the challenge stay dry.

Suffering from building delays, the way forward for the $30 billion challenge is up in the air. And it’ll quickly be left in the fingers of President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who has mentioned he helps the concept however has proven little curiosity in prioritizing it—a worrying signal for Jokowi, who has in latest weeks stepped up efforts to quick observe the development of Nusantara. 

“This is the last attempt of Joko Widodo to reassert his authority, to ensure his legacy,” Vishnu Juwono, affiliate professor in public governance on the College of Indonesia, tells TIME.

In his quest to show that the event of Nusantara goes nicely, Jokowi spent his first evening in the brand new capital in July—he didn’t sleep well, he mentioned the following morning—held his first cabinet meeting earlier this month, and has been inviting influencers to tour the positioning and put up about it.

“The new capital Nusantara is a canvas on which we can carve out the future,” Jokowi said as the cupboard assembly commenced on Aug. 12. “Not every country has the opportunity or ability to construct a new capital from zero.”

A cleaner works on the rooftop of the newly-built presidential palace throughout celebrations marking Indonesia’s Independence Day in Nusantara on Aug. 17, 2024.Bay Ismoyo—AFP/Getty Photos

It stays unclear if Indonesia has that capability both. The challenges that plague Nusantara—from land rights disputes to environmental concerns to an unanticipated lack of personal funding—don’t have any fast fixes.

Amid lagging building progress and a bit confidence of monetary return, Nusantara stays a tough promote to non-public and overseas buyers, who in accordance with the federal government’s plan had been anticipated to offer 80% of the challenge’s funding. (The remaining 20% was to be covered with the Indonesian state funds.) Nevertheless, of the 100 trillion rupiah or over $6.4 billion it had anticipated from investments by the tip of 2024, Nusantara has solely acquired about $3.5 billion—all from home firms and state-owned establishments.

Whereas over 400 overseas firms have expressed curiosity in investing, no concrete offers have emerged, whilst Jokowi embarked on a world tour to influence overseas governments and companies. Jokowi is now attempting to entice buyers with practically 200-year land permits, which critics have slammed as a “clearance sale” of land that may hurt native residents.

In the meantime, the grand presidential palace constructed in the form of a Garuda, the legendary bird-like creature on Indonesia’s nationwide emblem, has been mocked on-line, and others have pointed to what they imagine are indicators of shoddy, rushed workmanship in the constructing.

Learn Extra: Indonesia’s New Capital Is a Monument to Its Democratic Decline

Political uncertainty has additionally forged a darkish shadow over the sprawling Nusantara building web site. In June, the resignations of two chiefs overseeing the Nusantara challenge fueled hypothesis about its stability. And even when Nusantara stays on the following Administration’s to-do listing, it seems to be to be removed from the highest of the agenda.

Prabowo advised reporters earlier this month, whereas in Nusantara for the cupboard assembly with Jokowi, that he would “continue, and if possible finish” the challenge, however many stay skeptical that he’ll preserve to his phrase. His populist presidential marketing campaign had centered on a free lunch initiative, which is ready to take a big bite out of the state funds. Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the incoming Vice President and Jokowi’s eldest son, said he didn’t plan to maneuver to his official residence in Nusantara however would stay in his personal home in Jakarta. 

For his half, Jokowi has acknowledged that the transition to Nusantara shouldn’t be rushed. His plan for now, it appears, is to easily make it not possible for his successors to disregard the 250,000 hectares of capital-in-progress.

“He’s building, developing the capital as much as possible, so that it reaches the so-called point of no return,” Yanuar Nugroho, a visiting senior fellow on the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and former deputy chief of employees to Jokowi, tells TIME. Whoever inherits the Nusantara challenge, Yanuar says, “wouldn’t want to be seen as someone who jeopardized that.” 

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, proper, talks with President-elect Prabowo Subianto, left, throughout an Independence Day on the presidential palace in Nusantara on Aug. 17, 2024.Bay Ismoyo—AFP/Getty Photos

However what Jokowi’s successors may do, as an alternative, is to pull out the development till it’s extra politically handy to present it up. “Nusantara could trundle along, and it could be quite slow,” Ian Wilson, a senior lecturer specializing in Indonesian politics at Australia’s Murdoch College, tells TIME. “If it becomes a white elephant project, if it’s draining too many resources when [Prabowo] has other political priorities, it would be quite easy for him to step away from it. And then that would serve to undermine the Jokowi legacy.”

To make sure, Jokowi has loved widespread public help throughout his decade in workplace—even in the ultimate stretch of his presidency, his approval ranking hit a new high of 77%. And, to his credit score, his try at transferring the capital has gone additional than any of his predecessors, who over the previous a long time have all in a way deliberate or tried to execute such a transfer.

But whether or not Nusantara succeeds or fails, political analysts say, his legacy might have already been written. A decade in the past, Jokowi started his presidency being hailed as “Indonesia’s Obama” and “a new hope” for Indonesian democracy. However as his remaining time period attracts to an in depth, Jokowi’s repute has been tainted by his obvious maneuvers to construct a dynasty for himself in Indonesian politics. The political turbulence marking his remaining months in workplace, most notably allegations that he’s eroding Indonesia’s burgeoning democracy, have more and more overshadowed the recognition that undergirded his tenure.

“Certainly, Jokowi will be remembered as someone who … started the building and the development of the new capital city,” says Yanuar. “But he’s also known as someone who destroyed Indonesian democracy.”

Final yr, Gibran’s choice as Prabowo’s operating mate—regardless of being beneath the minimal age required of candidates—was made attainable by a ruling from the Constitutional Courtroom, on which Jokowi’s brother-in-law sat as chief justice. Now, he’s attempting to secure his influence over Golkar, one of many nation’s largest political events, by putting in himself and his allies in senior positions. And in latest weeks, his allies in Parliament tried to amend election legal guidelines, earlier than pressing pause amid widespread protests, to pave the way in which for Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep to turn out to be a candidate for governor.

“I’m afraid that Jokowi, at the moment, even without [the Nusantara project],” says Yanuar, “Jokowi will not be remembered as someone who is wise. He will not be remembered as a statesman.”