The Head Of The Authority Agency Can Concurrently Position Minister, Who?

Illustration/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - The name of the Head of the IKN Authority has been mentioned in President Joko Widodo's pocket. No later than mid-March 2022, the name will be announced by the president.

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the minister being able to serve as the Head of the Archipelago IKN Authority. This discourse was originally conveyed by the Deputy Chairman of the Legislation Body (Baleg) of the DPR from the PPP faction, Achmad Baidowi.

He mentioned that the candidate for the head of the authority could be held by the minister. Baidowi also revealed the names of the figures that President Jokowi might appoint.

At first, Baidowi explained, in accordance with the provisions of Article 9 paragraph 1 that the Head and Deputy Head of the IKN Authority were appointed and dismissed by the president. In Article 4 paragraph 1 (b) that the status of the IKN authority body is a special regional government at the ministry level, so that the position of the Head of the Authority can be held concurrently by the minister.

"The position of the head of the IKN authority can be held concurrently by the minister," said Baidowi, Monday, February 21.

According to the man who is familiarly called Awiek, if you look at the provisions in the IKN Law, the opportunity to capture this position is very open.

The chairman of the PPP DPP also gave a leak regarding several ministers who have the opportunity to be chosen by the President to serve as the head of the authority. Who is the minister in question?

"Everything depends on the President's decision. It could be the Minister of Home Affairs (Tito Karnavian), the Minister of National Planning and Development/PPN/Bappenas (Suharso Monoarfa), and the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Mahfud MD) or an appointed minister, said Awiek.

So who is the most suitable to fill this position?

Regarding the figure, Member of Commission II of the DPR RI from the PKB faction, MF Nurhuda Yusro, emphasized that the candidate for the Head of the IKN Authority Agency must be returned to Law Number 3 of 2022, which is the prerogative of the president.

"We leave it to the president who will be elected," said Nurhuda when confirmed, Monday, February 21.

He believes the president can choose a competent person for the position within two months.

"We trust and believe that the people chosen are worthy, have experience in managing governance. Moreover, this is the capital city of the country," said the PKB politician.

The Central Java electoral district legislator admitted that there was indeed a clause on the appointment and the appointment of the Head of the IKN Authority needed to be consulted with the DPR as stated in Article 5 paragraph 4.

However, he said, for the first time the president has full authority without going through consultation with the DPR in Article 10 paragraph 3. In fact, he must be appointed no later than 2 (two) months after promulgation.

"Regarding who is in office, we will leave it to the president. I believe with the credibility of an experienced president, he will definitely appoint the right person, with integrity and trust (trusted worthy person)," said Nurhuda.

He said that there were many nominations of names to be appointed as heads of state. These included Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Bambang Brodjonegoro, Ridwan Kamil, Tumiyono, Abdullah Azwar Anas and recently Bambang Susantono.

But regarding the discourse that the head of the IKN authority can hold a ministerial position, Nurhuda does not agree. Because according to him, Jokowi's ministers already have their respective duties.

"About the possibility of the minister holding concurrent positions as the Head of the IKN Authority, I don't think so. IKN is a big project, you have to focus on managing it. The minister has a job that requires his own focus," said Nurhuda.

"The president himself already has criteria, he must understand architecture. And there is no criteria for concurrent positions with ministers," he continued.

Jokowi is considered the most ideal to be the head of the authority body

Political communication observer at Esa Unggul University, Jamiluddin Ritonga, thinks that the candidate for the Head of IKN should be someone who is trusted by the president and away from corrupt behavior. This is necessary so that IKN development is free from corruption.

In addition, he said, ideally the Head of IKN is someone who masters planning, so he knows exactly how to implement it in the field. That way, according to Jamiluddin, the construction of the IKN is really in accordance with the design that has been set.

"President Jokowi seems to have two criteria. Therefore, the president should hold the position of Head of IKN," Jamiluddin said when contacted, Monday, February 21.

If the president becomes the head of IKN, he continued, the bureaucratic chain can be cut. And all problems that arise will be quickly resolved.

"Besides that, the president certainly understands the IKN design very well. Because the existing designs have certainly been approved by the president. Therefore, the lack of development in the field will be easily recognized by the president," he said.

In fact, said Jamiluddin, if the president becomes the Head of the IKN then the parties who will "play" with the IKN development budget can be braked automatically. The President, will ensure that the IKN development budget will not leak at all.

"So, there are many advantages if the Head of IKN is concurrently the president," he concluded.