Petitioners Withdraw Lawsuit Against the State Budget Regarding the Free Nutritious Meal Programme: Due to Personal Circumstances
Petitioners have withdrawn their lawsuit against the State Budget Law concerning the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme from the Constitutional Court due to personal reasons, including a family tragedy and local conflicts. The petitioners cited the need to address these issues before continuing with the legal challenge. Despite this withdrawal, several similar lawsuits regarding the 2026 State Budget Law are still ongoing at the Constitutional Court.
“We are withdrawing this petition because Petitioner II has experienced a tragedy, while Petitioner I is dealing with conflicts in their region, so we have agreed to withdraw this petition for now, and will elaborate further later,” said one of the petitioners, Syamsul Jahidin, as quoted on the Constitutional Court’s website in a news report regarding the withdrawal of the lawsuit on April 28, 2026, accessed by Kompas.com on Friday (May 15, 2026).
The petition number is 127/PUU-XXIV/2026.
“We will submit the statement of withdrawal by post because it includes a physical signature, so we will do it professionally,” said Syamsul Jahidin.
The withdrawal of the lawsuit was then granted by the panel of constitutional judges on Tuesday (May 12, 2026).
“It is decided, the withdrawal of the petition by the Petitioners is granted,” said Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, Suhartoyo, reading out the decision in the Constitutional Court’s courtroom on Tuesday (May 12, 2026).
“Based on the reason that the petitioners cannot attend the trial because they are facing certain conditions in their respective regions. In addition, the petitioners are also preparing a better petition to be submitted again to the Constitutional Court,” the Constitutional Court wrote.
They sued Article 8 paragraph (5), Article 9 paragraph (4), Article 11 paragraph (2), Article 13 paragraph (4), Article 20 paragraph (1), Article 29 paragraph (1) of the State Budget Law because they believe that these articles conflict with Article 23 paragraph (1), Article 22A, and Article 28D paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution.
Marina Ria is a housewife and Syamsul Jahidin is an advocate who has expertise in legal risk analysis, monitoring government procurement of goods and services, and strengthening public participation in monitoring public policy.
In her role as a mother with school-aged children, Marina has directly experienced the implementation of the free nutritious meal (MBG) programme for her children.
Conversely, the implementation of the MBG norm indirectly legalizes a policy that wastes state funds without proper planning.
Meanwhile, based on his research on the MBG Programme, Syamsul Jahidin found that it only benefits the Foundation and the School Operational Assistance (SPP) providers.
In addition, in reality, the food served does not meet the standards and much of the food provided is nearing its expiration date. In addition, the Petitioners see that the MBG issue is also related to food poisoning and inappropriate budget waste.
Although this petition has been withdrawn, several similar lawsuits regarding the 2026 State Budget Law are still ongoing at the Constitutional Court. There are six other cases still in progress, namely:
Case Number 40/PUU-XXIV/2026
Case Number 52/PUU-XXIV/2026
Case Number 55/PUU-XXIV/2026
Case Number 100/PUU-XXIV/2026
Case Number 130/PUU-XXIV/2026
Case Number 142/PUU-XXIV/2026