So The Spotlight Because Of The President's Urge To Remove Sri Mulyani, MPR: Budget Cuts Are Not Related To Refocusing On COVID-19

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JAKARTA - Chairman of the MPR Budgeting Agency Idris Laena assessed that the MPR budget cuts were not related to the "refocusing" of the budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Budget cuts because it has been happening since before the pandemic.

"The MPR RI noted that the MPR RI budget had undergone systematic cuts since the 2019 and 2020 fiscal years before COVID-19 occurred, and continued in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years," said Idris Laena in a statement quoted by Antara, Thursday, December 2.

This explanation is related to the statement of Deputy Chairperson of the MPR, Fadel Muhammad, who expressed his disappointment with the attitude of the Minister of Finance who did not comply with the invitation of the MPR Chairperson to hold a Consultation Meeting.

He explained that due to these cuts, the MPR budget in 2018 was worth more than Rp. 1 trillion, then it was cut to only approximately Rp. 660 billion.

According to him, a very significant budget cut since 2019 occurred precisely when the MPR budget needs increased due to the addition of the number of MPR members to 711 people, the increase in the number of MPR RI leaders from 5 people to 10 people.

"Then there is the establishment of bodies and institutions for the assembly and implementation of the constitutional duties of the MPR RI," he said.

According to Idris Laena, the main activity of the MPR is to carry out the Socialization of the 4 Pillars of the MPR which is actually held six times a year for each MPR member.

However, he explained, due to the cuts in the MPR budget, it had to be reduced to only four times a year.

"Even for Fiscal Year 2022, it can only be allocated twice a year. What is more concerning is that public hearings should be held 6 times a year, but since 2020, these activities have not received a budget allocation," he said.

Idris said, at the previous Consultation Meeting that had been held, the Minister of Finance had promised to allocate a budget for MPR activities, especially the Socialization of the 4 Pillars of the MPR, as before the budget cuts, which was 6 times a year.

He emphasized that the MPR as one of the top state institutions regulated by the constitution with the main aim of maintaining people's sovereignty, should not be subject to significant budget cuts.