Muhammadiyah Central Leadership M. Arif Budimanta delivering Muhammadiyah Central Leadership’s testimony on the continued judicial review hearing of Case No. 3 of 2020 on the Amendment on Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining, Monday (9/12). Photo by MKRI/Bayu.
JAKARTA (MKRI) - The Muhammadiyah Society’s efforts manifest in business charities, programs, and activities, including maintaining and utilizing natural resources and the environment for welfare. Hence, the management of the Special Mining Business License Area (WIUPK) priority may be carried out professionally based on the values of Al-Islam and Muhammadiyah.
This was the statement of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership (PP) conveyed by M. Arif Budimanta in the continued hearing of the judicial review of Law No. 3 of 2020 on the Amendment to Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba Law) on Monday, December 9, 2024, at the Constitutional Court. The seventh hearing agenda for Case No. 77/PUU-XXII/2024, petitioned by Rega Felix, was to hear testimony from PP Muhammadiyah.
Arif further explained that all business charities owned by the Muhammadiyah Society are open for anyone to access, including WIUPK which will be given priority to business entities owned by the Muhammadiyah Society. The permit also contains the same conditions and obligations as those who get WIUPK given to corporations. Some of them are requirements related to revenue to the state and other obligations. Muhammadiyah, as part of a religious organization, has two benefits simultaneously, namely for the greatest prosperity of the people, the same state revenue benefits as corporations, and benefits for the interests of the nation/country.
“Thus, the profits obtained by business entities owned by this religious organization will actually be used to expand access to education, health, and economic empowerment through the construction of Muhammadiyah schools, colleges, and hospitals throughout Indonesia to serve all levels of society without distinguishing preferences, religion, race and intergroup,” Arif explained.
Muhammadiyah’s Commitment
Responding to the request for judicial review of the Minerba Law, Arif said Muhammadiyah upholds the values of Al-Maun, Al-Ashr, and Ta'awun. Al-Maun includes siding with the oppressed poor, both structurally and culturally. Al-Ashr's values include responding to the time to provide solutions in a rational and progressive manner realized with real movements rather than rhetoric. The value of Ta'awun includes the ability to work together to provide goodness and benefit to the universe.
In this case, Arif continued, Muhammadiyah is committed to realizing a prosperous Indonesia with natural resources as one of the economic pillars as well as an indicator of the success of economic development in realizing the nation's prosperity. To realize this, Arif stated that the management of national resources that is fair, inclusive, sustainable, and dynamic community participation is an inseparable part of unity in the life of the nation and state.
Arif mentioned that based on data from the National Statistics Agency (BPS), mining and excavation contributed around 11% to the national gross domestic product in 2023. Other data also shows that mining causes various serious problems, such as environmental damage, social conflict and inequality in profit distribution. Another problem is the connection between land clearing in certain areas, from 2010-2020 around 1.65 million forests were cut down which had an impact on biodiversity, including the destruction of the lives of indigenous peoples who depend on forests for their daily needs.
“Muhammadiyah has qualified management in providing quality resources. This is shown by the ownership of 165 Muhammadiyah and Aisyiyah universities that can support the realization of sustainable governance. These universities include faculties of mining and economics, which are in charge of environmental studies and focus on environmental management. Even Muhammadiyah, in the organization's governance in the aspects of finance and wealth and reporting, always carries out accountability for business charities regulated in the Muhammadiyah bylaws. In other words, Muhammadiyah's wealth is all assets obtained from legal and halal sources and used for the benefit of the implementation of Muhammadiyah's business charities, programs, and activities,” Arif Budimanta explained in the hearing led by Chief Justice Suhartoyo in the Plenary Court Room.
Also read:
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Advocate Clarifies Meaning of 'Priority' in Mining Concession Review by CSOs
House and Govt Request for Minerba Law Hearing Reschedule
Govt: WIUPK Priority Offer Expands Capacity of Minerals and Coal Management
Govt Expert Explains the Capacity of Religious Groups to Manage Mining Sites
House: Priority over WIUPK Subjects to Specific Requirements
An advocate and lecturer, Rega Felix, submitted a judicial review of Article I number 4, which contains amendments to Article 6 paragraph (1) letter j and Article I number 26, which contains amendments to Article 35 paragraph (1) of Law Number 3 of 2020 on Amendments to Law Number 4 of 2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (Minerba Law) against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia to the Constitutional Court. During the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, Rega argued that the WIUPK offered to religious groups as a priority does not satisfy the requirements of affirmative policy based on the 1945 Constitution.
The Government can still carry out priority offers as long as it does not use considerations based on ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup. If the priority is given based on these considerations, it is clearly contrary to Article 28I paragraph (2) and Article 33 paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution. This is because the meaning of “priority” in the norm of the tested article is not clearly limited and may create a self-reference norm to the president.
In the petitum, the Petitioner requested that the Court declares the phrase “prioritizing the offer of WIUPK” in Article 6, Paragraph (1), letter j, as amended by Article I, point 4 of the Minerba Law, to be in conflict with the 1945 Constitution and conditionally without binding legal force as long as it is not interpreted as “prioritizing the offer of WIUPK without considerations based on ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group.” Furthermore, the Petitioner requested that the clause “Mining businesses are carried out based on business licenses from the central government” in Article 35, Paragraph (1), as amended by Article I, point 26 of the Minerba Law, be declared in conflict with the 1945 Constitution and conditionally without binding legal force as long as it is not interpreted as “Mining businesses are carried out based on business licenses from the central government without considerations based on ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup.”
Author: Sri Pujianti
Editor: N. Rosi
PR: Fauzan F.
Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario
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.
Monday, December 09, 2024 | 15:47 WIB 24