Since the enactment of The Law Number 5 of 2017 on Advancement of Culture in 2017, The Indonesian Arts Coalition continuously held an annual evaluation regarding its implementation. In this article, Koalisi Seni shows its implementation progress during 2021.
We note that, as reflected in Koalisi Seni’s four years evaluation regarding The Law No.5/2017, the government has ratified three derivative policies in 2021.
The first one is Government Regulations Number 87 of 2021 on Implementation Regulation of The Law No.5/2017. This regulation is a compilation of all governmental derivative regulation mandated by The Law.
Even though its issuance is two-years behind the mandated schedule, we still considered GR 87/2021 as an enhancer to cultural advancement. Because, GR87/2021 creates a legal basis to accelerate the government tasks mandated by The Law No.5/2017. So there’s no reason for the national or regional government to delay its implementation with the excuse of the absence of derivative regulations.
At the national level, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology could accelerate establishment of derivative regulations of GR 87/2021 as a technical guidance for advancement of culture in its administration.
GR 87/2021 also gave the basis for the regional government to formulate regional regulations regarding the advancement of culture that is aligned with regional characteristics and needs.
Second, the issuance of the Ministry of Education Regulation Number 1 of 2022 on Monitoring and Evaluation of Regional Main Ideas of Culture (PPKD). Ratified by Minister Nadiem Makarim on 11 January 2022, this regulation will be a legal basis for the national government to make sure the regional government can fulfill its tasks.
Koalisi Seni notes that, of a total 508 city or regency governments, there are hundreds of them who haven’t established their PPKD. We also found that the majority of the regional governments still haven’t used their PPKD as a basis to set up their cultural programs and budgets, even though the Presidential Regulations Number 65 of 2018 on Formulation Procedure of PPKD and Cultural Strategy has obliged them to do so.
Thus, we hope that the Ministry of Education Regulation 1/2022 could speed up the works of the regional government on their local cultural advancement.
The third policy is Dana Indonesiana as a cultural trust fund, which was launched by Minister of Education Nadiem Makarim and the Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani on March 23 2022. The policy was launched on the basis of The Presidential Regulation Number 111 of 2021 on Endowment Fund of Education, which was ratified on December 15 2021.
Dana Indonesiana as a cultural trust fund was established as an obligation of the government to actively facilitate every cultural advancement effort by the people, as directly mandated by The Law No.5/2017.
However, this policy does not cover government obligations regarding advancement of culture. We highlighted some things that need to be done by the government in order to make Dana Indonesiana impactful.
First, to prevent a negative buzz regarding Dana Indonesiana, the government must hold a proper public brief to all stakeholders in the arts and culture sector. Second, the government needs to establish further rules on benefits distribution mechanisms so the community could benefit from Dana Indonesiana immediately.
Third, the government must make sure the budget for Dana Indonesiana was as much as promised by President Joko Widodo in 2018, and as promised by Minister Sri Mulyani as well, which is Rp 5 trillion. The state budget (APBN) 2022 only allocated Rp 3 trillion for the Cultural Endowment Fund, while each the Research Endowment Fund and University Endowment Fund were allocated Rp 7 trillion and Rp 8 trillion. This budget shows that the cultural sector still has not got equal priority from the government.
Koalisi Seni appreciates the issuance of various policies to boost the implementation of cultural advancement by the Government. Nevertheless, our examination finds at least three remaining tasks which are far from complete.
First, up until now, the Cultural Strategy has not been ratified. Article 13 point (6) in the Law on Advancement of Culture gives the mandate to the President to determine the strategy. In 2018, President Joko Widodo received the text of the Cultural Strategy prepared by Indonesian Cultural Congress. However, four years later there is still no progress on the ratification. This is a big disappointment for the art and cultural activists because the effort to gather more than 300 PPKD as well as dozens of professional associations in the congress seems to have gone to waste.
Second, the Master Plan for the Cultural Advancement (RIPK) has not been formulated. Article 10 in the same law requires that the RIPK is prepared based on the Cultural Strategy. Again, the slow approval of the strategy by the President has hindered this process. This delay affects all efforts to push on the advancement of the culture.
The last task is about fulfilling the mandate in establishing the Ministerial Regulation on Utilization License of Object of Advancement of Culture by Big Industries and Foreign Parties. This is the last remaining derivative regulation of the Law on Advancement of Culture that has not been completed. Article 37 and 38 in the Law no. 5/2017 strictly regulates that large industries and foreign parties must apply for a permit before using the Object for the Advancement of Culture for commercial purposes. The purposes are to protect the Objects from over-exploitation and violation of its sacredness. Moreover, the permit system ensures a sharing of benefits for the sustainability of the Objects. Therefore, it is important for the Government to immediately formulate the Ministerial Regulation on this matter as mandated by the Law on the Advancement of Culture.
Koalisi Seni highlights those points based on the annual monitoring of the implementation of the Law on Advancement of Culture. It is our hope that the Government immediately completes all remaining homeworks. In addition to that, we also invite all art and cultural stakeholders to keep an eye on the implementation of the Law because a good regulation alone is not enough.
Watch the video recording of the Webinar ‘Dana Sudah Ada, Strateginya Mana?: Lima Tahun Implementasi UU Pemajuan Kebudayaan’ (The budget has been set, but the cultural strategy awaits: five years of implementation of The Law No.5/2017) on 24 May 2022 here.
