Commission II of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) is mulling a proposal to merge Jakarta’s buffer cities with the province in the amendment to Law No. 29 of 2007 on Jakarta Special Capital Region governance.
Earlier, Depok Mayor Mohammad Idris had suggested that Jakarta’s buffer cities, Depok, Bogor, and Bekasi, be merged with Jakarta to form a Greater Jakarta province. The suggestion had received mixed reactions.
Idris argued that issues in Jakarta’s buffer cities can be addressed more conveniently if the cities are merged with Jakarta.
“Regarding the Depok Mayor’s proposal to include Depok, Bogor, and Bekasi to form Greater Jakarta, DPR RI Commission II will consider the proposal while deliberating the Jakarta Law revision,” DPR RI legislator Rifqinizsamy Karsayuda said here on Friday.
The law regulating Jakarta’s capital status needs to be amended following the enactment of Law No. 3 of 2022 on National Capital, which finalizes the relocation of the national capital from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara in East Kalimantan, he added.
Karsayuda explained that the revision could regulate either the formalization of Greater Jakarta as a province or the designation of another special status for Jakarta, soon to be a former capital.
“Because of its special status (as specified by) Article 18 of the Constitution, (the national capital) must be differentiated from other provinces in Indonesia,” the legislator said.
After Jakarta loses its capital status, he explained, another issue that must be considered is the proposal to elevate administrative cities in Jakarta as fully fledged cities with autonomous status on par with other Indonesian cities.
If the elevation of Jakarta administrative cities as fully fledged cities is accepted, they will have their own legislatures and directly-elected mayors, the legislator noted.
“We will discuss those issues by the latest at the end of 2022 to prevent dualism on the juridical aspect of our national capital,” he informed.
As long as Law No. 29 of 2007 is not amended, Indonesia will have two capitals de jure, which are Jakarta and Nusantara, Karsayuda added.
Source: Antara News