Indonesia celebrates Independence Day in Jakarta and new Nusantara capital

The country’s 79th Independence Day is the last celebration for Joko Widodo as Indonesia’s president, as his elected successor Prabowo Subianto will be inaugurated in October.  

In Nusantara, Widodo and his wife, First Lady Iriana, sat at the main podium near the newly built presidential palace, the Garuda Palace. Prabowo sat on Widodo’s right side.

In Jakarta, the event was beamed live on giant screens to guests at the Istana Merdeka presidential palace, led by Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin.

Prabowo’s ex-wife Titiek Soeharto, a daughter of Indonesia’s second president Suharto, enjoyed the Independence Day celebration from the VIP guests’ bench at the Jakarta presidential palace. She was accompanied by a nephew and her nieces.

A highlight of the celebration, following the hoisting of the national flag, was air combat manoeuvring by nine F-16 Air Force fighter jets in the skies above Nusantara.

The Indonesian armed forces then presented a video on large monitor screens of navy divers on the seabed of the Ambalat block spreading the Indonesian flag, to reflect their readiness to defend Indonesian borders. The oil-rich seabed is located off North Kalimantan province, which borders Malaysia. 

Towards the end of the video clip, chants of “New Nusantara, Progress Indonesia” could be heard.

In between the presentations, dances and songs were performed before the 1,800 guests seated in front of the new presidential office, which is situated next to the palace. The recently completed Garuda Palace, modelled after Indonesia’s giant mythical bird, sits on higher ground. 

Traditional-modern fusion Dayak dances were performed to the tune of nationalistic songs written by Guruh Soekarnoputra, a son of Indonesia’s first president Soekarno, who proclaimed Indonesian independence in 1945.  

Female dancers held hornbill feathers and waved their arms up and down to mimic flying as they elegantly swirled and swayed. Male dancers held shields and ritual knives.

As many as 770 military officers from the three branches of the military were involved in the military parade in Nusantara, while another 340 were at the presidential palace in Jakarta.

With Nusantara still a giant construction site, the event’s organisers faced logistical challenges, such as renting hundreds of cars and buses and reserving hotel rooms for guests.

An earlier plan to invite 8,000 guests was changed, with the list whittled down to less than 2,000 due to the unavailability of hotel rooms around Nusantara, with the closest city being Balikpapan some two hours away. 

The government, while not disclosing the amount it spent to hold independence celebrations in both the uncompleted city and Jakarta, defended the expenses. Indonesia’s State Secretariat Minister Pratikno had previously said the budget for the ceremony was “swollen” but “not significant”. 

A Nusantara government official had earlier said the decision to commemorate the archipelago’s independence in two locations was to pay homage to Jakarta and to stage a “ceremony of transition” to the new capital. 

Initial plans for the celebrations were on a much larger scale. Officials said in January that thousands of government employees would attend the series of events for the celebrations.

Meanwhile, the Oct 20 swearing-in ceremony for Prabowo and Vice-President-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka will be held in the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta, and not in Nusantara as previously announced.

Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja

The Straits Times

Asia News Network