Secretary-General Heru Setiawan presenting the RKA and RKP reports for Fiscal Year 2025 and the 2022 BPK audit results at a hearing meeting with House Commission III, Thursday (6/13/2024). Photo by MKRI/Fauzan.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) — Secretary-General Heru Setiawan presented the state ministry/agency budget plan and work plan (RKA-KL) and the government work plan and state ministry/agency work plan (RKP K/L) for the Fiscal Year 2025, along with the results of the 2022 audit of the Constitutional Court by BPK (Audit Board) at a hearing meeting (RDP) with Commission III of the House of Representatives (DPR). This event took place on Thursday, June 13, 2024 in the House Commission III meeting room.

Heru disclosed that the Constitutional Court spent 99.95% of its 2023 budget up to December 2023, approximately IDR 406 billion out of IDR 407 billion. It budget expenditure in 2023 covered the handling of constitutional cases, the improvement of citizens’ understanding of constitutional rights, the dissemination of information on Constitutional Court cases and decisions; management programs; international cooperation and relations; planning, evaluation and financial management; household affairs, security; procurement; equipment; archives; delivery; internal supervision; as well as human resources and organizational management and bureaucratic reform. This also included expenditure on personnel, goods, and capital.

Heru discussed the Constitutional Court achievements in 2024, starting with the handling of disputes over the 2024 general election results (PHPU). “We report that in 2024, we handled a total of 299 presidential and legislative election cases related. There were 2 cases concerning the presidential election, and 297 cases on the legislative election. Of these, 44 petitions were granted, 59 were rejected, 148 were dismissed, 15 were withdrawn, 20 fell through, and 15 were ruled beyond the Court’s jurisdiction,” he detailed.

House’s Appreciation and Recommendations

Several members of the House Commission III expressed their appreciation and recommendations to the Constitutional Court. One of them was Sarifuddin Sudding from the National Mandate Party (PAN) faction, who commended the Court’s performance in handling the 2024 election results disputes.

“I commend the extraordinary role of the Constitutional Court in safeguarding democracy. We hope that as an independent judicial authority, the Court can uphold the law and justice. The statesmen in the Court are expected to deliver justice in accordance with their duties and powers,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Hinca I.P. Pandjaitan from the Democratic Party faction also complimented the of the Constitutional Court’s performance and decisions in handling the 2024 presidential and legislative election results dispute cases. “I respect the Constitutional Court. Speaking about secretariat-general, it is like a kitchen. If a house’s kitchen is orderly, the knives, stove, dishes, everything, is in good condition,” he said.

Independence of Constitutional Justices

I Wayan Sudirta from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction expressed a different perspective. While he appreciated the Court’s achievements relating to the presidential and legislative election results disputes, he emphasized the importance of improving the independence of the Court’s justices.

“The Constitutional Court has many achievements, but I wish for more independence. Sir, please ensure that the Court remains an independent institution because the justices are statesmen. Make the Court a gathering of statesmen like the wise elders of old, standing independently in the sense that there is no pressure or influence of any kind,” Wayan advised the secretary-general, who appeared before the commission alongside the head of the Planning and Finance Bureau Tatang Garjito, head of the Legal Affairs and Registrar Administration Bureau Fajar Laksono, and the head of the Center for Research, Case Review, and Library Management (Puslitka) Pan Mohamad Faiz.

Author              : Fauzan Febriyan
Editor               : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translators       : Gabrielle K.W./Yuniar W.

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

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