Human Rights Minister Complains in Parliament: We Excel but Are Never Appreciated

Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai complained during a budget meeting with House of Representatives Commission XIII, feeling his ministry was never appreciated. Initially, Commission XIII Chairman Willy Aditya criticised Pigai because the proposed budget was too internally focused. He asked Pigai to revise the proposed budget scheme. “Don’t prioritise internal services first; show that when this is handled, activists truly benefit. If that happens, we will fully support it. We even said the budget was ‘insufficient’ and we wanted to add trillions, but why is it like this? We support you, it is impossible not to, we are all human rights fighters, but please fix this scheme,” Willy said during the meeting at Commission XIII in Senayan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday. Pigai then responded to the criticism. He felt the Human Rights Ministry had already excelled but was never appreciated by the House. “We have achieved a lot, but you never give us any appreciation,” Pigai stated. Willy replied, saying Commission XIII was currently appreciating Pigai. “We are appreciating you, just relax,” Willy answered. Willy then asked Pigai to fix his budget proposal. He also requested that Pigai clarify the direction of his budget. “Very well, everyone, we await these improvements, then we request a minimum five-year trajectory scheme, so that the portions are clear, where the promotion lies, how the instrument development works, and what the human resources look like,” he said.