Yusril: Coordinating Ministry an Instrument to Ensure Effective Coordination

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra has stated that the coordinating ministry serves as an instrument to ensure effective coordination in handling various cross-sectoral strategic issues. During a meeting with the Minister for State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform (PANRB) in Jakarta on Tuesday (23/6), Yusril stressed that the function of the coordinating ministry should not be interpreted as a superior-subordinate relationship with other ministries or agencies. “This is not about overseeing ministries or agencies, but rather about coordinating specific materials or fields that require policy integration and joint steps,” Yusril said, as confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday. He explained that in practice, the Coordinating Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections frequently receives various requests for coordination, consultation, and complaints related to legal and human rights issues. Therefore, strengthening the coordination function is necessary so that the government has a harmonised view in handling various legal problems involving multiple agencies. According to Yusril, the government wants to uphold legal certainty, but in practice, there are often various aspects that must be aligned. Hence, coordination is required in law enforcement and human rights aspects so that the government shares the same perspective on a legal issue. He noted that this coordination is not limited to technical ministries within the coordinating scope of his ministry but may also involve other institutions, such as the Indonesian National Police (Polri) and the Attorney General’s Office, as needed to resolve the problems at hand. The meeting discussed institutional strengthening and the alignment of the coordinating ministry’s functions to improve the effectiveness of handling cross-sectoral legal issues. Yusril conveyed that adjustments are still needed regarding the division of tasks, functions, and authority among agencies so that policy coordination can run more effectively, in an integrated manner, and without overlapping authority. “There are still several aspects that require adjustment and alignment. Therefore, clarity in the division of functions and authority is needed so that inter-agency coordination can run more optimally,” he said. He argued that clarity of tasks and functions is a crucial factor enabling the Coordinating Ministry to perform its coordinative role optimally in supporting the implementation of the government’s priority agenda, particularly in the fields of law, human rights, immigration, and corrections, which involve many ministries and agencies. Meanwhile, PANRB Minister Rini Widyantini affirmed that the structuring of government organisations must be directed towards strengthening the effectiveness of governance and ensuring no overlapping of authority between agencies. “Organisational structuring is carried out to ensure that every ministry and agency can carry out its functions and authority clearly, effectively, and in a mutually supportive manner,” Rini stated. Thus, she said, the most important thing is not adding structures, but ensuring that governance runs well. Rini conveyed that her ministry will conduct further synchronisation with relevant ministries and agencies to ensure the alignment of tasks, functions, and authority in supporting the implementation of government policies. She added that this step also includes strengthening organisational governance, developing human resource competencies, and adjusting programme and budget requirements. The meeting resulted in a mutual understanding to continue the process of synchronising institutional tasks and functions as well as strengthening organisational support to enhance the effectiveness of cross-ministerial and cross-agency policy coordination. Both parties also agreed to continue strengthening coordination in supporting the resolution of various strategic issues requiring cross-sectoral handling. This step is expected to further strengthen the capacity of the Coordinating Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections in coordinating cross-sectoral policies while supporting the creation of effective, integrated, accountable, and public service-oriented governance.