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Legality of Prabowo’s budget cuts in doubt
“Any changes to the budget solely based on Prabowo’s recent Inpres are lacking legal foundation, misguided and constitutionally flawed,” YLBHI chair Muhammad Isnur said in a statement on Tuesday.
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President Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech at the 60th anniversary event of the Golkar Party in Sentul, Bogor regency, West Java, on Dec. 12, 2024. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
Q
uestions have been raised about whether President Prabowo Subianto’s order to slash ministries and agencies’ budgets is legal, with observers highlighting flawed procedures and a lack of public participation in the decision-making process.
In a presidential instruction (Inpres) issued on Jan. 23, Prabowo ordered ministers, agency heads and regional leaders to cut a combined Rp 306.7 trillion (US$18.9 billion) in spending from their institutions’ 2025 budgets.
The Inpres did not specify the purpose of the budget cuts, but Prabowo’s administration is seeking additional funds to support the President’s flagship free nutritious meals program and other costly initiatives.
The large-scale budget cuts consisted of Rp 256 trillion to be taken from ministries and agencies and Rp 50 trillion to be taken out of central government transfers to regional administrations.
Some observers welcomed the cuts to areas of spending considered excessive, such as official business travel. But the decision also sparked widespread criticism, including from state officials who took to social media to express their frustrations and said the cuts would prevent them from performing their basic duties, including responding to public reports.
Activists have taken issue with the legal standing of January’s Inpres, with the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) arguing that the budget cut order violated the law.
Read also: Penny pinching civil servants bemoan ‘absurd’ budget cuts
