MPR Reveals Prabowo's Response on State Policy Guidelines, Emphasises Legal Product Type

Deputy Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Eddy Soeparno has revealed President Prabowo Subianto’s directive regarding the State Policy Guidelines (PPHN), whose discussion has been completed and is ready to be taken to the next stage. Eddy stated that his party had conveyed the MPR’s study results on the PPHN to Prabowo during a meeting on 3 August. In that meeting, Eddy said, Prabowo requested that the MPR determine the legal product for the PPHN. “The President wants us to first determine through which legal product the PPHN will become a legitimate legal product for the future,” Eddy said at the parliament complex on Thursday (6 August). Eddy explained that the MPR is currently considering three options as the legal product for the PPHN: the Constitution (UUD), an MPR Decree (TAP MPR), and a law. However, the options of amending the Constitution or using an MPR Decree are gaining traction because they have a stronger legal standing compared to a law. “But because this is a strategic direction for the nation’s future development, in terms of legal status, it is better regulated through an amendment to the Constitution, included in the UUD, or through an MPR Decree,” he said. Nevertheless, Eddy said his party has not yet decided between these two options. He mentioned that the matter will be referred back to the MPR’s Assessment Body. Additionally, no deadline has been set for when the decision on the legal product for the PPHN will be made. However, he believes the process will not take long. “We want to accelerate the process, but we do not want to rush just to meet a target, resulting in a hasty study,” Eddy said. Eddy noted that, in principle, the President has accepted and approved the MPR’s report on the PPHN. “In principle, the President responded positively to our report on the completion of the discussion within the Assessment Body regarding the PPHN,” Eddy said. For context, the PPHN is set to become a legal document containing strategic policy directions and national development guidelines across different presidencies or administrations in Indonesia. The PPHN is designed to have a function similar to the Broad Outlines of State Policy (GBHN) during the Old Order under the Guided Democracy of first President Sukarno and the New Order under second President Soeharto. In the pre-reform era, the GBHN was established by the MPR as the highest state institution at the time. The GBHN had to be implemented by the president as the mandate holder of the MPR. However, following amendments to the 1945 Constitution, which also changed the MPR into a high state institution, the GBHN was abolished, and its function was replaced by laws governing national development planning and the National Long-Term Development Plan (RJPN). The formulation of the PPHN was a recommendation of the MPR for the 2014-2019 period. During that MPR term, the PPHN was said to be planned for inclusion in the 1945 Constitution through a limited amendment first. Later, discourse also emerged for the PPHN to be regulated through other methods, such as an MPR Decree (Tap MPR) or a law.