The Social Affairs Ministry has responded to concerns that the ministry might be exercising control over the National Disabilities Commission (KND), saying that it did not interfere in any of the commission’s functions. “It need not be a concern, because the [KND] secretariat has merely an administrative support [function] and there is no intervention from the Social Affairs Ministry,” Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara said in a statement on Tuesday. On June 8, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued Presidential Regulation No. 68/2020 on the KND, which placed the commission as a work unit under the Social Affairs Ministry. Disability rights organizations from across the country expressed concerns over potential conflicts of interest between the KND and the ministry, whose purview does not include human rights issues. The groups also objecte...