Constitutional Court hears witnesses and experts in judicial review of free nutritious meal programme

The Constitutional Court (MK) on Monday convened a follow-up hearing for the judicial review of Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the 2026 State Budget (APBN), which disputes the inclusion of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme budget within the education budget. The session was scheduled to hear witness and expert testimony from the petitioners. The hearing, held in the plenary meeting room of Building 1 of the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, was chaired by Chief Justice Suhartoyo and attended by the eight other constitutional justices, along with the three petitioners, legal counsel for the House of Representatives (DPR), legal counsel for the government/president, witnesses, and experts. The session was conducted for three cases simultaneously: Case Number 40/PUU-XXIV/2026, Number 52/PUU-XXIV/2026, and Number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026. “The hearings for case numbers 40, 52, and 55 of 2026 are opened and declared open to the public,” said Suhartoyo. After inviting the petitioners and participants to introduce themselves, Suhartoyo allowed the petitioner for case number 52 to present three witnesses. The first witness was Zidan Ramdani, a student from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta and chairman of the student executive board (BEM). He described the condition of higher education services before and after the allocation of the education budget for the MBG programme. Next, the petitioner for case number 55 presented Iman Zanatul Haeri, a private school teacher from Madrasah Aliyah Yayasan Said Aqil Siradj and Head of Advocacy at the Education and Teachers Association (P2G). The teacher witness outlined complaints and problems faced by teachers in several regions, including the impact on teachers’ future following the allocation of the education budget for the MBG programme. Subsequently, witness Rika Ipati Farihah, a mother of two and owner of an Islamic education foundation in Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta, also gave testimony. Besides explaining her experience as an MBG recipient, Rika detailed an offer to establish a Nutrition Service Fulfilment Unit (SPPG) kitchen at her school, which she rejected because it did not align with her views. The final witness was Ki Darmaningtyas, a writer, activist, and critic of national education. Meanwhile, legal counsel from the DPR and the government/president were present. Representing the DPR were Hariyanto and Muhammad Wildan Ramadani from the DPR’s Centre for Monitoring the Implementation of Laws. Government legal counsel attended from four ministries: the Ministry of Law, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, and the Ministry of Finance. The government’s legal team was led by Zuliansyah, Director of Litigation and Non-Litigation at the Ministry of Law. After hearing the witness and expert statements, the presiding justice allowed the petitioners, the DPR, and the government to question the witnesses and experts, followed by questions from the constitutional justices. The hearing was delayed by 30 minutes, originally scheduled for 13:30 WIB but moved to 14:00 WIB because the panel of constitutional justices had a meeting to conclude. The session finished at 15:45 WIB and is scheduled to resume on Tuesday, 23 June 2026, with the agenda of hearing expert testimony from the DPR and the government. The hearings for these three cases have been ongoing since February 2026. Initially, preliminary hearings were held separately, but the examination of witnesses and experts from both the petitioners and the DPR and government is now being conducted jointly for all three cases.