Expert: Jakarta Remains the Nation's Capital Constitutionally
Constitutional law expert, Fahri Bachmid, believes that a Presidential Decree serves as the instrument and final requirement for the legal completion and the key constitutive element of the transition of the capital city’s status.
Based on the Constitutional Court’s (MK) decision, the relocation of the capital city’s position, function, and role from Jakarta to the Nusantara Capital (IKN) is legally valid only when the Presidential Decree is signed by the president.
“As long as the Presidential Decree has not been established and implemented, Jakarta constitutionally remains the Capital City of the Republic of Indonesia, even though the IKN Law and the Jakarta Special Region (DKJ) Law have been ratified. The institutionalisation of the Presidential Decree mechanism is designed to ensure that there is no legal vacuum, where the status of Jakarta as the capital is revoked simultaneously with IKN being formally established as the capital,” said Fahri Bachmid in a statement on Friday, May 15, 2026.
Fahri Bachmid added that the issuance of the Presidential Decree is the full authority of President Prabowo Subianto.
The Presidential Decree, he continued, is a legitimate instrument of presidential authority to carry out government duties, which will be issued based on strategic, administrative, and infrastructure readiness considerations in IKN itself.
Fahri argues that the substance of the petition submitted by the Petitioner in case number 71/PUU-XXIV/2026, with the argument that the inconsistency creates a situation where one norm explicitly and consistently establishes the capital city of the Republic of Indonesia at this time.
“As a result, in addition to causing different interpretations, it also potentially creates a vacuum regarding the constitutional status of the capital city in the national legal system, which has a direct impact on the validity of government actions, including the validity in the issuance of state decisions, the organisation of state affairs, and the implementation of government administration,” he said.
Fahri believes that the norm in question is the legal basis and framework for the relocation of the Capital City from the Special Capital Region Province of Jakarta to the Nusantara Capital, which is marked by the issuance of a Presidential Decree regarding the relocation.
In other words, legally and politically, the Nusantara Capital has been established as the Capital City, but the relocation process is still awaiting a Presidential Decree.
On the other hand, he emphasised that the MK has affirmed the aspect of time. If placed in the context of the relocation of the capital city, in Law 2/2024 in conjunction with Law 151/2024, there are provisions regarding the time for the relocation of the Capital City of the Republic of Indonesia.