House Special Committee and Government Begin Deliberations on Archipelagic Regions Bill

The Special Committee of the House of Representatives, together with the government, has begun discussing the Bill on Archipelagic Regions. This Special Committee was previously ratified during a plenary session of the Indonesian House of Representatives on 12 March 2026. The Special Committee meeting was held in the meeting room of Commission XIII of the House, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (25/6/2026). The meeting was chaired directly by the Chair of the Special Committee, Mercy Barends. The government was represented directly by Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Bima Arya, Deputy Minister of Law Edward Omar Sharif Hiariej, and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hafaz Ugroseno. Also present were officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of State Secretariat. “Based on the attendance report on the meeting chair’s table, the working meeting has been attended and signed by nine members from seven factions, thus fulfilling the quorum of more than half of the faction elements. Therefore, the quorum as stipulated by Article 281 paragraph 1 of House Regulation Number 1 of 2020 concerning the Code of Conduct has been met. The meeting is opened and declared open to the public,” said Mercy as she opened the meeting. Mercy stated that this Special Committee meeting was held to follow up on Presidential Letter number R-01/Pres/01/2026 dated 12 January 2026 concerning the Archipelagic Regions Bill. Five agendas were agreed upon at today’s Special Committee meeting: 1. Explanation from the Regional Representative Council on the Archipelagic Regions Bill. 2. Views of the House factions on the Archipelagic Regions Bill. 3. The government’s views on the Archipelagic Regions Bill in accordance with the presidential letter received by the House, with the Ministry of Home Affairs acting as the lead sector representing all relevant ministers. 4. Ratification of the deliberation schedule for the Archipelagic Regions Bill. 5. Handover of the academic paper and draft of the Archipelagic Regions Bill from the Regional Representative Council to the House Special Committee.