February 18, 2026 | 08:40 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa responded to the lawsuit against Law Number 17 of 2025 concerning the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) for the 2026 Fiscal Year, which was submitted to the Constitutional Court. The lawsuit was filed by the Nusantara Learning Garden Foundation along with three students and a non-permanent teacher.
Purbaya stated that he did not have a problem with the lawsuit, noting that there would be winners and losers. "I think it is weak. If it's (the lawsuit) weak, then it will certainly lose. But we'll see how it goes," Purbaya told reporters at the Parliament complex in Jakarta on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
The applicants sued for the inclusion of funding for the free nutritious meal program (MBG) in the national education budget structure. Dignity Law legal team member Abdul Hakim said that this step was taken to uphold the mandate of Article 31 paragraph (4) of the 1945 Constitution.
"The article obliges the state to prioritize at least 20 percent of the State Budget for meeting the needs of national education," Hakim said in an official statement on Monday, January 26, 2026. He assessed that the provisions of Article 22 paragraph (3), along with its Explanation in the 2026 State Budget Law, have expanded the meaning of operational education funding by including funding for the MBG program. However, he said, the program is not directly related to the core function of education.
In their petition, the applicants requested the Constitutional Court to declare that Article 22 paragraph (3) of the 2026 State Budget Law is contradictory to the 1945 Constitution as long as it includes the nutritious meal program, and to annul the Explanation of the Article for expanding the norm.
The petition explained that out of the total education budget for 2026 amounting to Rp769.1 trillion, around Rp223 trillion is allocated for MBG funding. This means that almost 29 percent of the education budget is absorbed by the program.
Hakim highlighted the impact of this budget allocation policy on educators, especially non-permanent teachers. "This budget shift reduces fiscal space for more urgent educational needs, such as improving teacher quality, school infrastructure, educational assistance, and equal access to education," he said.
Hendrik Yaputra contributed to the report
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