Deputy Speaker of the MPR: Fulfilment of disability rights requires commitment from all parties

Jakarta

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Lestari Moerdijat, said that fulfilling the rights of people with disabilities requires commitment from all parties. In a statement in Jakarta on Thursday, she said that the obligation to meet the rights of marginal groups has been mandated by the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

‘The fulfilment of the rights of people with disabilities in all aspects of social life must be carried out with full commitment because the law and the Constitution already mandate this,’ she said.

Disability issues have, in fact, become a focus of the national legislative agenda. She referred to the National Disability Commission’s records that there are 38 draft laws (RUU) relating to disability issues out of a total of 67 priority RUUs in the National Legislation Program 2026.

A member of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) expects that in the discussion and drafting of disability-related laws, the phrase ‘people with disabilities’ should not merely be included, but that active involvement of people with disabilities is required.

According to her, data show that basic rights of people with disabilities across various sectors still need to be improved.

According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Lestari noted, only 2.8 percent of the 17.9 million people with disabilities in Indonesia are able to complete tertiary education. In the employment sector, around 70 percent of people with disabilities who work are absorbed only in the informal sector, which is vulnerable and not protected.

She emphasised that efforts to realise inclusive development for people with disabilities cannot be undertaken by any one party alone. Accelerating several policies related to people with disabilities at regional levels should be pursued urgently, including harmonisation and the issuance of inclusive regional regulations across all provinces and regencies/cities. She also urged strengthening inclusive public services to anticipate the rising number of people with disabilities in the future.

Furthermore, Lestari invited the central government, local governments, the DPR, the private sector, and society to work together to build an effective system of services and protections for people with disabilities. ‘Stakeholders and the public must be able to build an effective system of protection and public services for people with disabilities, as part of realising the mandate of our Constitution,’ she said.