Discourse About the Government’s Political Goal to Move the Capital of Indonesia

The relocation of the Indonesian capital, which was announced by President Joko Widodo, was certainly no longer a rumour. Indonesia is preparing to build facilities and infrastructure in Borneo as the new capital of Indonesia. The relocation of Indonesia's capital from Jakarta is to become a national medium-term development from 2020 to 2024. This study aims to find out what political discourse the government wants to achieve in moving the Indonesian capital. In this research, the method used is the analysis of van Dijk's critical discourse in Kompas.com news in August 2019. Based on the results that have been analysed, it is found that the political objectives of the government in moving the new capital from Java to Borneo are motivated by economic equality, the concept of smart cities, geographical location, and efforts to transfer problems from Java to Borneo. Authors conclude that the discourse of moving the capital of Indonesia only sells artificial dreams to the public. The cost of moving the capital to Borneo requires a hefty fee. Moreover, Indonesia's current financial condition is still not a surplus or deficit.