DPR Reprimands Natalius Pigai Over Proposed Rp492.9 Billion Budget Increase

The atmosphere at a working meeting in the DPR RI building heated up after legislators issued a stern reprimand to Human Rights (HAM) Minister Natalius Pigai. The rebuke was triggered by Pigai’s move to suddenly propose an additional budget of Rp492.9 billion in the middle of the meeting. The significant additional budget proposal was deemed inconsistent with the administrative and planning procedures that should have been finalised before the meeting began. DPR members stressed that every state budget submission, especially in large amounts, must go through an in-depth and transparent review mechanism. In their interruptions, several members of the relevant commission objected to the manner in which the proposal was delivered. According to them, proposing an additional budget of Rp492.9 billion in the middle of a meeting demonstrated a lack of internal coordination within the newly formed ministry. “The state budget is not a figure that can suddenly appear on the meeting table without strong supporting documents. We ask the ministry to be more disciplined in following the applicable budget cycle,” said one of the meeting leaders. Responding to the reprimand, Natalius Pigai provided an explanation regarding the urgency of the additional funds. He argued that as a new ministry, the Ministry of Human Rights requires strong financial support to build organisational infrastructure and execute strategic programmes mandated by the president. Nevertheless, the DPR insisted that the ministry immediately complete the administrative documents and synchronise with other technical ministries so that the proposal can be discussed legally and formally in the next session. As of the time this report was filed, the status of the additional budget proposal remains pending, awaiting the completion of supporting data. The DPR affirmed it will remain selective in approving every rupiah allocated to ensure the effectiveness of the state budget (APBN) usage.