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fter failing to attend the handover of office ceremony for the new Jakarta leaders, Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno, at City Hall on Monday, City Council speaker Prasetyo Edi Marsudi has also decided not to organize a special plenary meeting to welcome the new governor and his deputy, arguing that the council has no legal basis for such a meeting.

“City Council’s code of conduct stipulates no obligation to hold such a plenary meeting,” said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician at the council’s headquarters on Wednesday.

He added that the meeting was not essential anymore, because the new governor and deputy governor had conveyed their first political speech in front of the public on Monday evening after the handover ceremony.

City Council deputy speaker Abraham “Lulung” Lunggana, meanwhile, said it was important for the council to hold such a plenary meeting, because it was stipulated in Government Regulation No.16/2010 on the guidelines for arranging the regional legislative council’s code of conduct.

Lulung claimed that Prasetyo had made the decision not to conduct such a plenary meeting based on his own, politically motivated interests. Prasetyo, he added, had not taken into account the views of the other City Council leaders when making the decision.

“The council leader never discussed this issue with others. It is his own wish,” Lulung said. He also asked the council speaker to “move on” and accept the fact that the capital was now served by leaders backed by his opposition, because the council was not owned by one person, or one party.

Prasetyo is a politician from the PDI-P party that supported former Jakarta governors Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat, the opponents of Anies and Sandiaga in the gubernatorial election earlier this year.

Just like Prasetyo, Djarot, who was supposed to attend the handover of office ceremony at City Hall on Monday evening, had decided not to.

The former governor, who replaced Ahok after the latter was convicted for blasphemy, went on a vacation to Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) with his wife and three daughters that evening. Djarot had left the office on Sunday, accompanied by hundreds of his supporters.

Anies, on the other hand, said he was ready to convey his political speech before City Council members whenever the council decided to hold the plenary meeting. He said he had been waiting for the plenary meeting before executing his campaign programs, including stopping the land reclamation project in the Jakarta Bay.

“We still have one agenda point that must be completed first [before proceeding with the land reclamation issue]. That agenda point is attending a special plenary meeting held by the City Council,” Anies said, adding that he wanted to deliver his plans on the next five years in front of the councilors.

“We are still waiting [for the plenary meeting].”

The Home Ministry’s director general of regional autonomy, Sumarsono, said it was a must for the City Council to conduct such a meeting, just like other special plenary meetings conducted by other regional legislative councils to welcome their new leaders.

“The Yogyakarta Legislative Council had also conducted a special plenary meeting to welcome their new leaders [inaugurated on Oct. 10],” Sumarsono said, adding that the Jakarta City Council had 14 days after the swearing-in of the new leaders to welcome them. “The City Council still has enough time to hold the meeting. I think next week will be better,” he added.