MPR Reviews Most Appropriate Legal Framework for State Policy Guidelines

Jakarta - The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) of Indonesia is reviewing the most appropriate legal framework to ensure the State Policy Guidelines (PPHN) can become a legal product binding on all state institutions. Speaking at a press conference at the parliament complex in Senayan, Jakarta, MPR Speaker Ahmad Muzani stated that this was one of the main discussion points during a joint meeting between the MPR and other council bodies on Wednesday. “In the 2023 Constitutional Court ruling, an MPR decree is no longer permitted to be binding outside the MPR. Therefore, this has become our discussion. We need time to find a legal product that can be enacted so that this legal product binds all state institutions,” he said. When asked whether the MPR would pursue a constitutional amendment, Muzani said that option would be discussed further. “This is what will be discussed in the next joint meetings. It has not been discussed yet, but earlier various views emerged with many variants,” he said. Muzani further explained that the PPHN serves as a philosophical guide for the state that must be adhered to by all state institutions in carrying out the people’s mandate. However, the MPR Speaker has not yet detailed the state philosophy contained within the PPHN. The PPHN differs from the National Long-Term Development Plan, which contains technical guidelines. “Therefore, this must be binding for all state institutions,” he said. The PPHN has been under discussion since the MPR leadership in 2019 and was completed during the current period. The PPHN concept was presented to President Prabowo Subianto on Monday, 3 August. The President, Muzani noted, accepted the concept and expressed hope that it would soon be enacted into a legal product. Separately, MPR Deputy Speaker Bambang Wuryanto mentioned there are at least three options for the PPHN legal framework: through a constitutional amendment, via an MPR decree, or by making it a law. Bambang said the PPHN legal framework will be finalised soon so that national development can be carried out sustainably and in accordance with the guidelines. “In principle, the President leaves it to the MPR,” he said when met at the parliament complex on Wednesday.