The Special Committee For The IKN Bill Agrees On The Capital Of The Archipelago At The Provincial Level

President Joko Widodo when inspecting the location of the new capital city on 17 December 2019 ago (Photo: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr)

JAKARTA - The Special Committee for the Draft Law on the State Capital (Pansus RUU IKN) agreed that the capital city in East Kalimantan is called Nusantara. The Special Committee also agreed that IKN Nusantara would be at the same level as the province.

"We can agree on article 1 number 2, so the capital city of the archipelago, hereinafter referred to as the capital city of the archipelago, is a regional government unit that is special at the provincial level, whose territory is the seat of the state capital as stipulated by this law," said Deputy Chair of the Special Committee, Saan Mustopa, during a working committee meeting to discuss the new national capital, Monday, January 17.

"I want us to agree on this first, we will knock. The government will provide an explanation later," he continued.

Saan also reminded the government to provide a more detailed explanation regarding the reasons for naming Nusantara for the nation's capital city.

"When it comes to terms, the government must have thought about it, contemplated, looking for the best words left and right. We just have to ask the government for an explanation why it is called Nusantara, do you agree?" said Saan. The Minister of National Development Planning/Head of Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa stated that the name of the State Capital (IKN) was Nusantara. This name, according to him, has received the approval of President Joko Widodo.

"I just received confirmation from Mr. President Jokowi on Friday, January 14, and he said the name of the capital city of this country was Nusantara," said Suharso at the Working Committee Meeting (Panja) of the Draft Law on the State Capital (RUU IKN) at the DPR Building, Monday, January 17th.

Suharso explained that the reason for choosing the name Nusantara was because it had been known for a long time and became an international icon. After all, he said, the name Nusantara describes the Indonesian archipelago.

"I'm sure we all agree with the term Nusantara," he said.