Awards From The Ministry Of Finance For Governance And Budget Transparency Must Be Maintained By The DPR

JAKARTA - The DPR received an award from the Ministry of Finance (Kemenkeu) as one of the agencies with the Best Budget Performance in 2022 for the medium ceiling category.

The chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, is considered to have an important role behind this achievement because it has succeeded in bringing the DPR to implement budget governance and transparency.

"It's natural that the Ministry of Finance will give awards to the DPR for the performance of the DPR's budget management and also for the positive role of the DPR in managing the APBN as a whole," said Segara Research Institute Executive Director Piter Abdullah Redjalam, Friday, May 19.

"The role of the DPR in managing the APBN is very large. As is known, one of the functions of the DPR is budgeting. The government cannot have an APBN without the approval of the DPR, which means that the Government cannot execute all of its programs if it does not get DPR approval," he added.

The DPR also not only plays a role in approving or rejecting the APBN, but also in supervising the use of the APBN. Piter said that the DPR had been working well with the Government in managing the APBN.

"We should be grateful that during Pak Jokowi's period we never heard of any prolonged conflict in the preparation of the APBN. The cooperation between the DPR and the Government went quite smoothly. Although that doesn't mean there are no heated debates and discussions," said Piter.

"Supervision of budget implementation by the DPR is carried out proportionally and cooperatively," he continued.

Despite the role in managing and supervising the APBN, the DPR as a state institution is also considered to have shown good performance in managing their budgets financed with the APBN. This can be seen from the award given by the Ministry of Finance where the DPR is one of the institutions with the best budget performance.

According to Piter, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, along with other DPR leaders and the Secretariat General of the DPR, have proven that the implementation of quality budgets is in line with the mandate from the Ministry of Finance to ministries/agencies.

"This DPR budget performance can be seen from various indicators, including indicators of absorption and efficiency and effectiveness of the budget. The DPR's solidity and leadership of the Chairperson of the DPR RI, Puan Maharani and her representatives, I think it plays a positive role in this," explained Piter.

The Perbanas Institute lecturer also praised Puan's commitment to implementing the principles of transparency, accountability, openness and modern parliament in leading the DPR. Piter said that the application of the principle of transparency was actually carried out by the DPR because the public could see firsthand the budgeting in the DPR because access to information was very open.

"The commitment of the DPR to continue to be transparent, accountable, modern, and open as stated by the Chairman of the DPR, Puan Maharani, is also one thing that is very positive," said the author of the book System and Banking Policy in Indonesia.

The vision and mission for Puan has brought the DPR to implement good budget management because it is transparent. So the award for the DPR in budget management should really serve as a reminder for the DPR to maintain that commitment," Piter added.

Although often the image of the DPR has experienced unfavorable sentiment, with the award from the Ministry of Finance it has shown the optimization of the DPR's performance. Moreover, the DPR also received many other awards including dozens of times receiving Unqualified Opinions (WTP) from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK).

Piter said that being an institution that was highlighted by the public and many parties did need a difficult business. For this reason, the DPR RI is encouraged to continue to prove their best performance.

"Despite the general public view, the DPR meets the criteria for accepting awards in terms of budget performance. Because the award is given based on proof of data curated by the Ministry of Finance," he said.

This data can be seen from the performance of the budget in various aspects, such as waste or lack of budget, clear planning, low utilization, and overcapacity. Based on the assessment of the Ministry of Finance, the Indonesian House of Representatives reached the Budget Performance Index of 94.71 with the title of Very Good throughout 2022.

"This can be proven from a series of figures shown in the financial statements of the DPR RI, because it will result in further legal investigations if there are irregularities," explained Piter.

With this award from the Ministry of Finance, the DPR's good performance in terms of budget is expected to continue. That way, according to Piter, the DPR will provide the maximum benefit for the interests of the Indonesian people.

In addition to the DPR, awards for the same category were won by the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri), the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

Puan Maharani is grateful for the achievements achieved by the DPR. The award from the Ministry of Finance is said to be proof that the DPR works transparently, accountably, modernly and openly as the vision and mission it has carried since becoming the Chairman of the DPR.

"We are grateful for this achievement. The award will be a whip for the DPR RI to continue to improve and be even better for the welfare of the people," said Puan, Thursday, May 18.

The DPR RI consistently carries out the principles of professional, transparent, and accountable financial governance, continued the first woman to serve as Chair of the DPR RI.

Puan said that a quality budget is a step by the DPR to achieve the target, including the goal of making the DPR an open modern parliament. Through transparency, the DPR also wants to be 'early' by the community.

"It is not uncommon for budget policies in the DPR to become public attention. And we will not feel hot if we receive the spotlight from the public," explained Puan.

"We use this as input. And the DPR RI always considers all public aspirations because the DPR continues to strive to maintain people's trust," concluded Bung Karno's grandson.