What Drive Regional Legislators' Protests?

The National Governing Council of the Indonesian Regency Regional Representative Council Association (ADKASI) will hold a demonstration on Feb 20 to protest Presidential Regulation No. 33/2020 on Regional Price Standards. ADKASI deputy secretary general and coordinator for Eastern Indonesia Syam Ase revealed the association's plan to do it at the House of Representatives (DPR), the Finance Ministry, and the Home Affairs Ministry's offices. Syam, who also serves as the Regional Legislative Council chair of the Gorontalo Regency, said they also rejected Finance Ministerial Regulation (PMK) No. 212/2022 on Regional Performance Indicators and General Provisions for the General Allocation Funds (DAU). According to him, the sudden implementation of the regulation confuses regional heads and DPRD members because the 2023 regional budget was already approved. "How do we change it?" Syam asked on Friday.

National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar also conveyed this to President Joko Widodo in Oct 2022. At that time, he suggested that regulations on regional price standards did not facilitate regions with large fiscal capabilities. Moreover, this rule likens the use of the budget between regions that can afford it and those that cannot, so the development will not be optimum. "We want to revise it and fully hand the DPRD budget's use over to regions," Muhaimin said.