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.