Indonesia election 2024: can attacking Jokowi’s legacy Nusantara project help Anies Baswedan in the polls?

This is not the first time Anies has criticised Nusantara, but the remarks were some of his sharpest yet against the highly popular outgoing president

Analysts say Nusantara is a ‘huge drain on the public purse’ and likely to be an increasingly controversial issue in the run-up to the February polls

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Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan at a stadium for a campaign rally in Jakarta on November 28. He has argued the Nusantara project could exacerbate Indonesia’s already deep inequalities. Photo: AP

Published: 9:30am, 3 Dec 2023Updated: 5:19pm, 8 Jan 2024

Outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s biggest legacy project is the construction of a new capital, Nusantara, meant to replace the congested, sinking city of Jakarta as the country’s seat of government.

But Widodo’s grand vision for the new capital may be sunk if Anies Baswedan, one of three candidates vying to be his successor in February’s presidential election, is able to take his outspoken criticism of Nusantara and turn it into a game-changing campaign strategy.

If things go according to Widodo’s plan, the US$32 billion project will transform 2,560 sq km (988 sq miles) of land nestled among the rainforests of East Kalimantan into Indonesia’s political centre by the end of 2024.

An illustration of Indonesia’s future presidential palace in East Kalimantan, as part of the country’s relocation of its capital from Jakarta to Nusantara. Photo: AFP

But Anies, who is a former governor of Jakarta, took direct aim at Nusantara and Widodo’s legacy on Sunday, arguing the project could exacerbate Indonesia’s already deep inequalities.

“What’s needed in Indonesia today is equitable growth, where development is carried out not just in one location, but in many locations. Don’t let us build only in one location, which will actually create new inequality,” he said.

“We are preparing a programme structure to be able to encourage villages to further develop, for small towns to become medium, and medium ones to become large throughout Indonesia,” Anies added.

This is not the first time that Anies, trailing behind in third place in recent polls, has criticised Nusantara, but the remark was one of his sharpest attacks yet against the highly popular outgoing president.