Indonesian President Prabowo’s free meals plan draws court challenge by civil groups

JAKARTA – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free meals programme is facing a second constitutional challenge from civil groups that are questioning the funding arrangements for the US$20 billion (S$25.5 billion) initiative.

The civil coalition known as MBG Watch has petitioned the Constitutional Court for a judicial review of the 2026 state budget law that underpins funding for the programme, the group said in a statement on March 10.

MBG Watch is seeking to have parts of the law declared unconstitutional, arguing that it gives overly broad discretion over public fund management. The group also says the legislation was drafted with insufficient transparency and public participation, and lacks clear fiscal safeguards.

Members of the coalition include the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, the Center for Economic and Legal Studies, Transparency International Indonesia and some individuals.

Indonesia slipped three places to 109th on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2025, below Brazil, Belize and Ukraine.

The petition adds to growing public scrutiny of spending tied to the programme, which costs about US$20 billion annually and aims to improve health and reduce poverty by providing meals to more than 80 million people – mostly schoolchildren – on an almost daily basis.

The initiative accounts for 11 per cent of the central government’s spending in 2026 and is one reason analysts project the 2026 budget deficit could come close to breaching the country’s self-imposed cap.

Investors and analysts have also been questioning the government’s priorities and outlays, with both Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Ratings recently changing the outlook on the country’s credit score to negative. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa has said he continues to monitor spending to ensure the deficit stays in check amid volatile oil prices and a weakened rupiah.

A judicial review is already under way at the Constitutional Court on a petition filed by another civil foundation in late January, which argued that the free meals funding reduces the education budget to less than the legally mandated 20 per cent of state expenditure.

MBG Watch said the free meals programme involves a big amount of state funding but was pushed into the 2026 budget as a top priority without adequate research or a transparent planning process.

It warned that the programme could crowd out government spending on areas such as education, healthcare, social protection and infrastructure, while its centralised implementation could weaken accountability in the management of public funds.

“In the current circumstances, prioritising a new programme with a large scale of funding is a problematic fiscal decision.” BLOOMBERG