Indonesian leader starts working in new capital despite construction work and lack of facilities

PENAJAM PASER UTARA, Indonesia (AP) — Outgoing Indonesian President Joko Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency.

“Today I have started receiving officials for meetings here, in the president’s office,” Widodo told reporters at the new presidential palace, as authorities race to complete other key infrastructure projects in the future capital city of Nusantara before Independence Day celebrations next month. The capital, also known as IKN, is located in East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo.

Widodo said his first agenda item on Monday was a meeting with executives of the Nusantara development authority. He is also scheduled to meet with provincial leaders.

To facilitate the move, the presidential secretariat is preparing all the necessary furniture for the presidential office, including tables, chairs and lighting, while the supply of clean water, electricity and internet is “all running well,” Widodo said.

“We came here to check the latest progress of the IKN, especially the construction of the palace, I see everything is still in process,” Widodo said, adding that there are thousands of workers racing to complete the infrastructure projects, and that “I don’t want our presence to hamper its development progress.”

He is optimistic that the new “Garuda Presidential Palace” will serve as the backdrop of the country’s independence day ceremony on Aug. 17.

Only one month is left before Nusantara is slated to hold its first ever Indonesia Independence Day celebration, which is also expected to be the official transfer of the capital city from Jakarta. Its relocation plan has come into question, however, amid slow construction progress and missed deadlines, forcing the resignations of the head of the Nusantara Capital Authority and his deputy last month.

Most of the new city’s buildings are unfinished, with the new state palace 88% complete and several ministry buildings only with their lower floors usable.

The project to build the new capital is estimated to cost $33 billion, of which the state budget would shoulder only 20%. Widodo’s administration has relied heavily on investments from the private sector to build key infrastructure and public facilities, as the state budget will mainly cover the construction of basic infrastructure, buildings, and utilities within the “core area” of the government.

In a bid to lure investment, earlier this month Widodo signed a presidential regulation that grants investors certain rights, including land rights of up to 190 years in the future capital.

Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono who also serves as the acting head of the IKN Authority, said the government is still working to procure another 40 megawatts for the city, but the current capacity of 10 megawatts produced by a solar power plant has been established in Nusantara. A nearby reservoir provides “more than enough to meet the needs” for clean drinking water in the new city, he said.

Despite the progress made, questions still remain as to when the new capital will officially be relocated as Widodo is yet to issue the official decree. Until the decree is signed, Jakarta remains the country’s capital.

Widodo has signaled that the decree might be issued by President-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated on Oct 20.

The delay in formalizing the decree has raised questions about the location of the presidential inauguration, as in accordance with the Indonesian constitution, the swearing into office must take place in the nation’s capital.

The lack of investors in the megaproject also puts Subianto in a difficult position once he is sworn in. Promising continuity as his campaign platform during the presidential election, Subianto has pledged to resume Widodo’s landmark projects, including the IKN.

Construction of the new city began in mid-2022 after Widodo announced that Jakarta would no longer have capital status. The metropolis suffers from pollution and congestion, is prone to earthquakes and is rapidly sinking.

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia

A worker stands near a construction site in the new capital city in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, July 29, 2024. Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital Nusantara, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency. (AP Photo/ Fadlan Syam)

In this photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, center, rides a motorcycle in the new capital city Nusantara in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sunday, July 28, 2024. Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital Nusantara, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency. (Rusman/Indonesian President Palace via AP)

In this photo released by Indonesian Presidential Palace, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, center, rides a motorcycle in the new capital city Nusantara in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Sunday, July 28, 2024. Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital Nusantara, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency. (Rusman/Indonesian President Palace via AP)

Workers are seen at a construction site in the new capital city in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, July 29, 2024. Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital Nusantara, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency. (AP Photo/ Fadlan Syam)

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, center, talks to the media in the new capital city Nusantara in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Monday, July 29, 2024. Widodo started work Monday from the new presidential palace in his country's ambitious new capital Nusantara, where he intends to spend the last few months of his presidency. (AP Photo/ Fadlan Syam)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González has fled into exile after being granted asylum in Spain, delivering a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his upstart campaign to end two decades of single-party rule.

The surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela’s opposition and several foreign governments to be the legitimate winner of July’s presidential race was announced late Saturday night by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez. He is expected to arrive in Spain on Sunday.

She said the government decided to grant González safe passage out of the country, just days after ordering his arrest, to help restore “the country’s political peace and tranquility.”

Neither González nor opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has commented. But Spain’s center-left government said the decision to leave Venezuela was González's alone and he departed on a plane sent by the country's air force. González had stayed at the Spanish embassy in Caracas before leaving.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Spanish national broadcaster RTVE that his government will grant González political asylum as he has requested. Albares spoke from Oman while en route to China with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on a state visit.

“I have been able to speak to (González) and once he was aboard the airplane he expressed his gratitude toward the Spanish government and Spain,” Albares said. “Of course, I told him we were pleased that he is well and on his way to Spain, and I reiterated the commitment of our government to the political rights of all Venezuelans.”

Sánchez said in a speech before González's departure was announced that the opposition leader was “a hero whom Spain is not going to abandon.”

The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, in a statement Sunday described it as "a sad day for democracy in Venezuela,” and also disclosed that the Dutch had been involved in helping González.

“Faced with repression, political persecution and direct threats to his safety and freedom, after being given hospitality at the residence of the Netherlands in Caracas until Sept. 5, political leader and presidential candidate Edmundo González has had to request political asylum and accept the protection offered by Spain,” he said.

Borrell added that González “appears to be the winner of the presidential elections” and that the EU will maintain its support of the Venezuelan people “in their democratic aspirations.”

In a letter sent Sunday to lawmakers, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that the Netherlands had given González refuge shortly after the election at its embassy. He added that González said at the beginning of September that he wanted to leave the country “and continue his fight from Spain.”

González, a 75-year-old former diplomat, was a last-minute stand-in when Machado was banned from running. Previously unknown to most Venezuelans, his campaign nonetheless rapidly ignited the hopes of millions of Venezuelans desperate for change after a decade-long economic freefall.

While President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the July vote, most Western governments, including Spain, have yet to recognize his victory and are instead demanding that authorities publish a breakdown of votes. Meanwhile, tally sheets collected by opposition volunteers from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines indicate that González won by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

The tally sheets have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. In previous presidential elections, the National Electoral Council published online the results of each of the more than 30,000 voting machines but the Maduro-controlled panel did not release any data this time, blaming an alleged cyberattack mounted by its opponents from North Macedonia.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a staunch Maduro ally, sought González's arrest after he failed to appear three times in connection with a criminal investigation into what it considers an act of electoral sabotage.

Saab told reporters that the voting records the opposition shared online were forged and an attempt to undermine the National Electoral Council.

Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Maduro’s government observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. In a statement critical of the election, the U.N. experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory, but they said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.

Exiled opposition politician Franco Casella told RTVE that González would continue to campaign against the regime from abroad in what he called a dual leadership role with Machado, who Casella said remains in hiding in Venezuela.

He said he understood that some people who opposed Maduro might feel “orphaned” by González's departure but, he said, "this is going to be capitalized positively .... and my message is that this is not the time for tears, it is time for us to remain united against the dictatorship.”

Spain has been a major point of exodus for Venezuelans, particularly those leading opposition to Maduro’s regime. They include Leopoldo López, who fled to Spain to reunite with his family in 2020, and Antonio Ledezma, who left in 2017.

Some 44,000 Venezuelans immigrated to Spain in the first six months of this year. The last government statistics from 2022 said that some 212,000 Venezuelans were then residing in Spain.

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Goodman reported from Miami and Wilson from Barcelona, Spain. Mike Corder contributed from The Hague.

FILE - Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez waves to supporters during a political event at a square in the Hatillo municipality of Caracas, Venezuela, June 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)