DPR Praised For Asking The Minister Of Human Rights To Be Realistic About Additional Budget Of IDR 20 Trillian

Minister of Human Rights, Natalius Pigai during a working meeting with Commission XIII of the DPR at the Jakarta Parliament Complex, Thursday, October 31. (Nailin-VOI)

JAKARTA - The DPR's move to remind the Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai to be realistic regarding the request for additional budget of up to Rp20 trillion should have been. Commission XIII is considered not to be carried away by the new government's moon' atmosphere for daring to criticize Pigai's unrealistic request.

"This is an early start' that sheds light on the performance of the DPR at the beginning of the 2024-2029 period after the inauguration of council members a month ago," said Political Communication Observer Ari Junaedi, Friday, November 1.

As is known, the commemoration of DPR Commission XIII member Yasonna Laoly to Natalius Pigai regarding the Ministry of Human Rights' request for additional budget from Rp 64 billion to Rp 20 trillion became public attention. Yasonna asked Pigai to be realistic in the inaugural working meeting of Commission XIII DPR with Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai on Thursday (31/10) yesterday.

To Pigai, Yasonna reminded that currently the state does not allow it to fulfill the desire to add a budget of Rp. 20 T. The former Minister of Law and Human Rights said that there are other urgent matters that must take precedence in the midst of the state's financial condition that face serious challenges.

Yasonna's challenges are like the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) which has a deficit of around Rp. 600 trillion. Meanwhile, in the coming year, it is estimated that due state debt will reach around Rp. 800 trillion. Not to mention that economic conditions are still affected by the global situation that occurred in wars.

Ari Junaedi also agreed with Yasonna who assessed that the ministers of the Red and White Cabinet should be in line with President Prabowo's vision and mission, in this case related to budget efficiency.

"Restructuring the cabinet posture which is increasingly gemoy does not necessarily spend the portion of the APBN," said the Director of the Nusakom Pratama Institute Political Studies Institute.

"The new ministers should have the same pattern of understanding of President Prabowo Subianto's very heavy duties at the beginning of his administration," Ari continued.

Minister Pigai has revealed the reason why he wants his ministry's budget to increase 300 times. He admitted that he wanted to focus on strengthening the structure and structuring of the system at the Ministry of Human Rights within 100 days of working in the Red and White Cabinet led by President Prabowo.

Pigai also said that he would create a village-level socialization and human rights awareness program in 79,000 villages with 20 personnel per village. In addition, the Ministry of Human Rights is said to want to establish the Human Rights University by majoring in the economy, social, culture and laboratory center of human rights.

Ari also said Pigai's request was too reckless, especially since the state budget would come out a lot for the MBG (Free Nutrition Food) program which was President Prabowo's priority.

"Instead of asking for a'reckless' budget when the heavy burden of the state budget is sucked in for the MBG (Free Nutrition Food) program, Pigai should be aware of the advice from Yasonna as a member of the legislature who was once Minister of Law and Human Rights so that he understands the intricacies of budgeting," he explained.

Ari then compared Pigai's request for Rp 20 T with the budget of the Ministry of Housing and Settlement Areas which was only Rp 5 trillion in 2025. Even though this Ministry was asked to build 3 million houses.

"Untung kita memiliki anggota dewan yang mengingatkan pentingnya penyusunan program terlebih dari sebuah kementerian baru," sebut pemor program Pascasarjana di berbagai universitas di tanah air termasuk di Universitas Indonesia (UI) itu.

Ari added that the DPR's warning' is very much needed as a form of control of the legislative body. According to him, the DPR is able to prove that it is not carried away by the romance of the new government.

"I don't imagine if the DPR just agreed and got carried away with the new government honeymoon atmosphere for the life of corn if all the ministry requests were just passed," said Ari.

"If the DPR continues to remind executive requests that seem original, the people are satisfied with the control function carried out by the DPR," he added.

Ari also highlighted Yasonna's concern over the difference between Minister Pigai's statement with the Coordinating Minister for Law and Human Rights, Yusril Ihza Mahendra as the Ministry of Human Rights' 'inductor'. Yasonna reminded the importance of coordinating with other ministries and institutions so as not to interfere with stability in decision making.

"This is a real direction from the legislature so that the new ministry carries out its main duties and functions properly," said Ari.

Previously, the same warning was also conveyed by the Deputy Chairman of Commission XIII DPR Andreas Hugo Pareira. He considered that Pigai should first coordinate with internal government before expressing his wishes to the public, especially since the additional budget requested was very fantastic.

"This minister is in principle an assistant to the President, when he receives an assignment from the president, he should have discussed it and discussed it first in an internal coordination meeting with the coordinating minister," said Andreas Pareira, Thursday (24/10).

The leadership of the Commission in the DPR in charge of legal and human rights affairs also considers the request of Minister Natalius Pigai to be somewhat less relevant. Considering, said Andreas, the budget for 2025 has been set for a joint discussion between the Government and the DPR.

"Because the budget has been set. Any significant increase in one ministry will reduce budget space for other ministries or sectors that also require large funds such as education, health, or infrastructure," he explained.

Although the Minister of Human Rights has explained that the additional budget is to support and ensure President Prabowo's priority program, namely free nutritious meals to the construction of 3 million houses for the people in accordance with human rights values, Andreas emphasized that all must be carefully calculated and harmonized with the long-term goals of President Prabowo's administration.

"Given the many sectors that require attention, including food security, infrastructure, and poverty management, the increase in the Ministry of Human Rights' budget must be taken into account with precision and implement priority scales," said Andreas.