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Court rejects petition to repeal new capital law
The Constitutional Court has further smoothed the way for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's ambitious project of relocating the nation’s capital after it rejected petitions to repeal the Capital City Law amid growing public concerns.
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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 March 14, 2022. (Courtesy of Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau /Muchlis Jr. )
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he Constitutional Court has further smoothed the way for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's ambitious project of relocating the nation’s capital after it rejected petitions to repeal the Capital City Law amid growing public concerns.
Three plaintiffs had filed a petition in the court asking for a review of the new Capital City Law, arguing that its speedy deliberation at the House of Representatives was unconstitutional – a throwback to what also happened to the Job Creation Law.
Reading out its ruling in a hearing presided over by Chief Justice Anwar Usman on Wednesday, the court concluded that the plaintiffs' petitions were “legally groundless”
“The verdict rejects all the plaintiffs' petitions," said Anwar, who in May married Idayati, the younger sister of President Jokowi.
Read also: Calls for chief justice to resign ahead of marrying Jokowi’s sister
The House of Representatives passed the new capital city bill into law in January to relocate the Indonesian capital to a site deep within the jungle of East Kalimantan, an idea the country's leaders have been contemplating for years for more equitable growth in the nation.
The law itself provides a legal framework for the relocation and stipulates how the capital – named Nusantara, a Javanese term for the Indonesian archipelago – will be funded and governed.
