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Javanese symbolism still pervades Indonesian politics
In a clear sign of Javanese cultural hegemony, President Jokowi on Monday invited all governors from across the country to join a ritual laden with Javanese symbolism to bless the construction of the new capital city at ground zero in East Kalimantan.
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President Joko Jokowi” Widodo (center) pours water brought by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan (right), as East Kalimantan Governor Isran Noor (third left) looks on, during a Kendi Nusantara ritual at the site for Indonesia's new capital city Nusantara in Sepaku district, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, on Monday. As part of the ritual, President Jokowi collected soil and water from 34 provinces, which were brought by governors attending the ceremony. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau /Muchlis Jr. )
W
hen President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced his ambitious plan to relocate the capital from Java to Kalimantan two years ago, it was clear from the get-go that the President, an ethnic Javanese, wished to make Indonesia less Java-centric.
The new capital, he argued, should be in the middle of the country — between the north and south, the west and east of the Archipelago. “This is to represent justice and to speed up [development], particularly in the easter part of Indonesia.”
While the capital relocation project is the first symbolic move made by a president to move the nation’s political center to the actual center of the country, doubts linger if Javanese culture and all its symbolism will ever stop pervading its politics.
‘Kendi Nusantara’
In a clear sign of Javanese cultural hegemony, President Jokowi on Monday invited all governors from across the country to join a ritual laden with Javanese symbolism to bless the construction of the new capital city at ground zero in East Kalimantan.
Jokowi had asked the governors, including Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, to bring with them soil and water from their respective regions, to be put in a gold-plated container called Kendi Nusantara.
Read also: Jokowi lays symbolic foundation for new capital
