Budget Efficiency Does Not Touch Law Enforcement Agencies, Why?

President Prabowo Subianto's instruction to implement budget efficiency for ministries/agencies is becoming more focused. While most agencies are having their budgets cut, law enforcement institutions are exempt from this policy.

Based on data received by Kompas, law enforcement agencies such as the Indonesian National Police (Polri), the Attorney General's Office (Kejagung), the Supreme Court (MA), and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) did not experience budget cuts.

The budget ceiling for 2025 is Rp 126.6 trillion for the National Police, Rp 24.2 trillion for the Attorney General's Office, Rp 12.6 trillion for the Supreme Court, and Rp 1.2 trillion for the Corruption Eradication Commission.

In the context of the allocation of the 2025 State Budget, the National Police occupies the second position for ministries/agencies with the largest budget. The first position is held by the Ministry of Defense with a budget of IDR 166.2 trillion. The Ministry of Defense is also one of the ministries whose budget ceiling has not been cut.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati, in a press conference a few days ago, stated that budget cuts were made with considerations of efficiency and target accuracy. The President also requested that state spending for economic improvement and welfare be strengthened.

Therefore, the budget will be focused on programs that directly benefit the community, such as free nutritious meals. In addition, more of the budget will be directed to food and energy self-sufficiency programs.

The efficiency of the budget is stated in Presidential Instruction (Inpres) Number 1 of 2025 concerning Spending Efficiency in the implementation of the 2025 State Budget and Regional Budget. The target for this budget efficiency is IDR 306.69 trillion.

Asked about the absence of budget cuts at the AGO, Head of the AGO's Legal Information Center Harli Siregar said that his party hopes that all programs, especially in handling cases, can be implemented and run well. However, Harli denied the assumption that there were no budget cuts at all at the AGO.

According to Harli, the AGO continues to carry out budget efficiency in the form of blocking all official travel by 50 percent. The blocking was carried out based on the Attorney General's Memorandum in order to follow up on the President's direction regarding the need for budget savings for ministries/institutions.

The AGO's budget ceiling for the 2025 fiscal year is Rp24.2 trillion, up from 2024, which was Rp18.6 trillion. The budget ceiling for 2023 is Rp16.23 trillion.

Related to the same matter, Head of the Public Information Bureau of the Public Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police Brigadier General (Pol) Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko said that the Indonesian National Police supports the government's policy for state budget efficiency. The efficiency of budget use is through several ways, such as reducing the budget for personnel travel, meeting and seminar activities that are considered less urgent, and the use of digitalization technology in administrative and operational processes.

"With these steps taken, the National Police hope that it will have an impact on the implementation of state budget efficiency without reducing the effectiveness of the implementation of the main tasks of the National Police in maintaining and preserving conducive public order and security, law enforcement, and public services," he said.

Quoted from the page Polri.go.id, the 2025 Polri budget ceiling of Rp 126.6 trillion is allocated for several items, namely employee spending of Rp 59.44 trillion or an increase of Rp 1.16 trillion compared to the previous year. Other items are goods spending of Rp 34.07 trillion, and capital spending of Rp 33.09 trillion.

Professor of Law Faculty of Jenderal Soedirman University Hibnu Nugroho is of the view that the non-cutting of the budget ceiling of several law enforcement agencies shows the direction of President Prabowo's legal policy. Law enforcement is considered a priority because it carries the authority of the state, especially the President, in handling legal issues.

Theoretically, Hibnu continued, the effectiveness of law enforcement is related to the culture and structure that includes facilities and infrastructure. Therefore, financial support is a significant factor for law enforcers in handling cases, from investigations, inquiries, to decisions and executions.

"We see the chaos of law enforcement everywhere. Corruption is in every line while crimes outside of general crimes are very large. To handle it, effort is needed, not only human resources, but also funds," said Hibnu.

However, according to Hibnu, the budget for law enforcement agencies still needs to be reviewed in accordance with their main tasks. For example, the task of the Police is to maintain security and public order as law enforcers. Therefore, the budget that is allocated outside the implementation of its main tasks must be evaluated.

According to Hibnu, budget cuts for most institutions while some others are not cut can give the impression of discrimination because the institutions whose budgets are cut seem unimportant. In the context of justice, the government should apply the principle of balance, namely that all budget ceilings of ministries/institutions are cut, but the differences are different.

"So the reduction is done proportionally. That's fair. Don't let there be no reduction at all," he said.

Separately, Chairman of Indonesia Police Watch Sugeng Teguh Santoso is of the view that not cutting the budget of law enforcement agencies, such as the National Police, shows the President's view of the National Police, which is considered to require a large budget. According to Sugeng, whether or not the budget of law enforcement agencies is cut must be based on their main tasks, not on personnel violations.

"The existence of violations by several members certainly cannot be a reason for budget cuts," said Sugeng.

Sugeng's statement refers to extortion cases carried out by police officers that have been revealed recently. Some of them are the extortion case of Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) 2024 audiences by Polda Metro Jaya personnel and the extortion case against teenagers by two members of the Semarang Police.

However, according to Sugeng, the law enforcement budget that was not cut was not without consequences. On the contrary, law enforcement officers must carry out their duties as well as possible, namely providing excellent service that is selfless and no longer hurts the feelings of the community.

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