Ministry of Finance Clarifies Purbaya's Statement Regarding the APBN Law Complaint

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Finance clarified the statement of Minister of Finance Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa who responded to the lawsuit of honor teachers against Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2026.

"The Minister of Finance has never explicitly stated that the lawsuit will lose, but the Minister of Finance conveyed the context of the conditional prerequisite of a lawsuit, namely a lawsuit can lose or win," said Head of the Communication and Information Service Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, Deni Surjantoro, in a press release in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Friday, February 20.

Deni continued, the context of Purbaya's statement at that time was that if the basis of the lawsuit was strong, then it was likely that the lawsuit could win. However, on the other hand, if the basis of the lawsuit was weak, then the lawsuit could lose.

He stated that the Ministry of Finance respects the aspirations of honor teachers who have submitted material tests related to the APBN Law, especially regarding the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, to the Constitutional Court (MK).

The Minister of Finance, he said, did not intend to belittle or ignore the struggle and aspirations of honorary teachers.

According to Deni, the Minister of Finance, Purbaya, understands that honor teachers have an important role in the national education system and are an integral part of Indonesia's human resource development priorities.

"The Ministry of Education invites all parties to respond to information in a complete and proportional manner and to prioritize constructive dialogue for strengthening national education policies," said Deni.

As previously reported, Purbaya responded to the lawsuit against the 2026 State Budget Law in a closed interview at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday, February 18.

"We'll see what the result is like. The lawsuit can lose, it can win, right. I think (the material test) is weak. If it's weak, it will definitely lose. But, we'll see what the result is like," said Purbaya.

The Constitutional Court has received at least three requests to test Law 17 of 2025 concerning the 2026 State Budget which questions the financing of the MBG program.

The three applications, among others, were case number 40/PUU-XXIV/2026 which was requested by the Nusantara Learning Garden Foundation, number 52/PUU-XXIV/2026 with the applicant being a lecturer Rega Felix, and number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026 which was submitted by honorer teacher Reza Sudrajat.

All of the petitions collectively questioned Article 22 paragraph (3) of the 2026 State Budget Law along with its explanation which included the MBG program in the operational funding of education which was taken from the education budget.

The law actually stipulates that the education budget is allocated around 20 percent of the total state budget. However, the grouping of MBG as part of the operational costs of education is feared by applicants to reduce the allocation of the budget for other essential education needs.

Therefore, the applicants in the three cases asked the Court to declare the MBG program not to be included in the operational funding of education.