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Chief Justice Anwar Usman reading out the Court’s decree on the material review hearing of Law No. 2 of 2020 on the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1 of 2020 on the Stipulation of the State’s Financial Policy and Fiscal Stability for the Mitigation of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Thursday (27/8) in the Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

JAKARTA, Public Relations of the Constitutional Court—The material review petition of Law No. 2 of 2020 on the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1 of 2020 on the Stipulation of the State’s Financial Policy and Fiscal Stability for the Mitigation of the COVID-19 Pandemic and/or in Order to Face Threats That Endanger the National Economy and/or the Financial System’s Stability into Law had been withdrawn, ruled the Decree No. 51/PUU-XVIII/2020 read out by Chief Justice Anwar Usman on Thursday, August 27, 2020 in the Plenary Courtroom.

Justice Anwar, on behalf of the Court, declared that it had received the Petitioners’ petition withdrawal request dated August 19, 2020. He added that the Court had held an additional preliminary hearing on August 24, 2020 to request confirmation of the withdrawal. This means that the Petitioners cannot re-file the a quo petition and the withdrawal request will be recorded in the constitutional case registration book and copies of the petition will be returned by the Court’s registrar.

Also read:

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Petition on COVID-19 Withdrawn

Petitioners Din Syamsuddin and peers had previously argued that the reason for the formal review was because the approval of Perppu No. 1 of 2020 into Law No. 2 of 2020 by the House were done in the same session as its stipulation when it was supposed to be in “the next sessions,” according to Article 249 of Regulation No. 1 of 2020 on the House’s Code of Conduct relating to session year and session period.

In addition, pursuant to Article 22D paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) should’ve participated in the discussion of Perppu No. 1 of 2020 as the norm concerns the central and regional budget. However, the House discussed the perppu without the DPD’s involvement. In the material review, the Petitioners argued that Article 2 paragraph (1) letter a numbers 1, 2, and 3 of Law No. 2 of 2020 has granted the Government an authority to determine state budget deficit: first, 3 percent legal limit of the GDP; and, second, such an arrangement applies until 2022. Such an arrangement has invaded the state budget as the state budget deficit is the margin of the accumulation of all state revenues and expenditures. The Petitioners believe that such a format and principle have subjected the state budget to crises, such as the economic crisis of 1998.

Writer: Utami Argawati
Editor: Lulu Anjarsari
PR: Lambang S.
Translator: Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 8/28/2020 06:48 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case where any differences occur between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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