DPR-Government Approves DKJ Bill Continued To Plenary

Screenshot - Chairman of the Legislation Body (Baleg) of the DPR Supratman Andi Agtas while chairing the Working Committee meeting of the DKJ Bill

JAKARTA - The Legislation Body (Baleg) of the DPR and the Government approved to continue the discussion of the Draft Jakarta Special Region Law (RUU DKJ) at the level II discussion at the DPR plenary meeting in the near future to be ratified into law.

"Can we continue the Draft Law on the Special Region of Jakarta Province for level II decisions at the nearest plenary session?" said Chairman of the DPR Baleg Supratman Andi Agtas while tapping the hammer for approval at the Plenary Meeting of the DPR Baleg with the government as reported by ANTARA, Monday, March 18.

The agreement was made after eight factions in the Legislative Council of the House of Representatives agreed to further discussions on the DKJ Bill. Meanwhile, one faction rejected the discussion.

Supratman said the agreement was the answer to a public debate regarding two important issues in the DKJ Bill, namely related to the election mechanism for the governor of DKJ and the chairman of the Agglomeration Regional Council.

"Thus, the debate related to the Special Region of Jakarta Law, especially two important issues, namely related to the process of appointing or selecting the governor of the DKJ has been answered, the two rumors of political issues about the chairman of the Agglomeration Area Council have also been answered from the results of our panja today," he said.

In the bill, he said, it was agreed that the chairman and members of the Agglomeration Regional Council were appointed by the President through a presidential decree (Keppres).

Meanwhile, the DKJ governor election mechanism was agreed to continue to be directly elected by the people through regional head elections (pilkada) with the condition that the votes were more than 50 percent or 50 percent plus one.

During the meeting, the Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian was also present on behalf of the government, and Deputy Chairman of Committee I DPD Sylviana Murni.

The DKJ Bill, which consists of 12 chapters and 72 articles, was rolled out as an implication of the issuance of Law Number 21 of 2023 concerning amendments to Law Number 3 of 2022 concerning the State Capital (UU IKN).

After the DKJ Bill was passed by the DPR, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) still needed to issue a presidential decree (keppres) before the capital city officially moved from Jakarta to the capital city of the archipelago (IKN).