Gibran should have been honest about the lack of investors in the national capital instead of asking Mr. Mahfud MD to Google and find out that there are no investors at all.
In the vice presidential debate yesterday, we saw how Mr. Mahfud MD presented the fact that there are no foreign or local investors entering the national capital to develop its infrastructure.
This is a fact that Mr. Mahfud MD himself knows because he is the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs under President Joko Widodo. On the other hand, Gibran is the president’s son and the mayor of Solo, who certainly does not know national development because his focus is only on Solo, which receives significant funding from the central government as a privilege.
As someone who is familiar with the field, Mr. Mahfud MD knows very well that the national capital is still undergoing financing that is not yet effective and targeted according to the laws established by the Indonesian Parliament (DPR). Therefore, Mr. Mahfud MD stated that there are indeed no investors at all, just as President Joko Widodo himself admitted some time ago.
As a business-minded person, President Joko Widodo eventually had to frequently visit the national capital to showcase the achievements that have been made, to attract foreign and local investors to participate in the development and make significant investments there.
Once the investors are on board, it is unlikely that President Joko Widodo would need to come and advertise the grandeur of the national capital, with its magnificent buildings and the symbolic placement of the first golden bolt as a representation of development and purity.
I understand that you believe this is a fact where Mr. Mahfud MD knows the truth, allowing him to speak based on the available facts. However, Gibran instead claimed that there are already many investors and couldn’t mention even one or two, simply asking Mahfud MD to Google it.
I searched on Google and found that legally there are no investors in IKN, but there is indeed a lot of interest. Perhaps Gibran doesn’t understand that being interested is different from actual realization. He is still a young child who may not fully comprehend the situation, and it is true that the legal regulations in the Constitutional Court may bring trouble for Indonesia in the future.
It seems that Gibran is underestimating the information provided by Mr. Mahfud MD, who is well-informed about the national capital. As the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs, Mahfud MD is well aware of the legal steps and mechanisms involved in the development of IKN, from its initial construction to the legal aspects and investment regulations.
Here, we can see that Gibran is underestimating Mr. Mahfud MD. Ironically, the narrative portrays Gibran as someone who respects his elders.
However, his words are disrespectful and belittling, undermining the thoughts of Mahfud MD. I believe Gibran is not answering the KPU’s questions but rather trying to connect and manipulate the information based on what he has been trained with his expensive team, searching for loopholes to exploit.
Furthermore, when it comes to taxes, Mr. Mahfud MD questioned the issue, but Gibran instead brought up the zoo, as if comparing humans to animals. It seems that being the president’s son, he has never faced difficulties and perceives humans as no different from animals, doesn’t he?
