Court's ruling carries no sanctions: Experts

Court's ruling carries no sanctions: Experts

Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Is there is any way at all to push for a bigger education budget
as ordered by the Constitutional Court in accordance with the
amended 1945 Constitution?

The answer is apparently no.

Legislators and economists have said that a 20 percent
allocation for the education sector -- as required by the
Constitution and recently upheld by the Constitutional Court --
would not be feasible, as it would bear fiscal risks that could
hurt the economy.

Even educational observers, while welcoming the court's
ruling, were pessimistic that the proposed budget allocation
would materialize in this time of economic hardship.

Although a ruling issued by the Constitutional Court is
legally binding, constitutional law experts said on Sunday that
it provides no legal sanctions for violators.

"The minimum allocation of 20 percent from the state budget is
already stipulated in the Constitution. But it (the violation of
it) bears no sanction, even though the Constitution must normally
be upheld. And improving education is essential to produce
quality human resources," constitutional law expert Harun
Alrasyid told The Jakarta Post.

The only sanction perhaps is a social one through public
opinion, added the University of Indonesia's law professor.

The Constitutional Court ruled last week in its judicial
review of the National Education Law that the allocation for
national education from the state budget and regional budgets
must be at least 20 percent.

The allocation is in accordance with the amended 1945
Constitution, and must take effect in 2006 instead of a gradual
increase as initially planned by the government.

The court noted that education was lagging behind other
sectors in the region in terms of quality, and thus its
improvement should be made a priority.

This year, the government allocated Rp 24.6 trillion (US$2.4
billion), or 9.29 percent of the total budget, for the education
sector through both the national education and religious affairs
ministries.

For the 2006 state budget, the government has proposed a total
of Rp 31.3 trillion for the education sector, or 12.01 percent of
the planned expenditure.

Because the 20 percent allocation is mandated in the
Constitution, the government -- in this case the President -- has
violated the Constitution for not providing such an amount in the
budget for education.

However, it is highly unlikely that such a violation could
lead to the impeachment of the President.

Sri Sumantri, a constitutional law expert from the Bandung-
based University of Padjadjaran, said that under the
Constitution, impeachment can only be carried out should the
President commit a "disgraceful act".

"Then, it should be defined first whether the failure to allot
20 percent of the state budget for education can be classified as
disgraceful," he said.

The Constitution states that the President can be impeached at
the request from the House of Representatives through debate and
eventually voting, and that the People's Consultative Assembly
must approve the impeachment.

"Even then, there would a lot of political aspects involved in
the process which makes it highly unlikely that the impeachment
would be carried out just based on that (the budget allocation),"
Sri said.