Rifqi Maulana, SH, Chairman of the Aceh Branch of the Indonesian Law Students Association (Permahi), urged the Aceh Government, particularly the executive branch and the Aceh Regional Secretary, to publicly publish the structure of the 2026 Regional Budget, including budget items that cannot be met and the technical and fiscal reasons for them.
"With budget transparency, the public can clearly assess whether the Regional Secretary is negligent, or whether the Speaker of the Aceh Regional People's Representative Council (DPRA) has failed to understand Aceh's fiscal limitations. We must not let this elite conflict sacrifice the interests of the people," said Rifqi Maulana in a written statement on Sunday, February 1, 2026.
He also considered the statement by the Speaker of the Aceh People's Representative Council (DPRA), Zulfadhli, also known as Abang Samalanga, who repeatedly discussed the removal of the Aceh Regional Secretary (Sekda), not to reflect the spirit of government collaboration and potentially contradict the vision and mission of Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf (Mualem).
Rifqi emphasized that criticism of budget policies is normal in a democratic system. However, he argued that the threat to remove the Aceh Regional Secretary from the Speaker of the DPRA (Regional People's Representative Council) lacked a comprehensive policy argument and tended to be a personal attack on executive officials currently running the government.
"The DPRA Speaker's statement calling for the Aceh Regional Secretary's removal does not rest on the framework of Mualem's vision and mission in developing Aceh. Instead, what appears to be a repeated attack on those working for Mualem's administration," Rifqi added.
According to him, the Aceh Regional Secretary, as Chair of the Aceh Government Budget Team (TAPA), has an obligation to adjust the 2026 Regional Budget (APBA) to reflect the region's fiscal conditions and the Ministry of Home Affairs' evaluation results. The adjustment of the Civil Servant Employee Income Supplement (TPP), as mentioned by the DPRA Speaker, cannot be separated from Aceh's financial capacity, which is currently considered unstable due to the needs of disaster management and economic recovery.
"The question is simple: did the DPRA Speaker's anger arise because not all budget requirements could be met? Was it due to fiscal constraints and revenue sharing, which led to the Secretary's perceived incompatibility and subsequent demand for his removal?" said Rifqi.
Permahi Aceh believes this attitude does not reflect the principles of justice and objectivity. Rifqi stated that criticism of the DPR should be directed at policy, not political pressure in the form of threats of dismissal, especially without transparent disclosure of budget issues.
Rifqi even believes that if this pattern of political communication continues to be displayed to the public, it is the DPRA Speaker who deserves evaluation.
"When the DPRA Speaker is more busy attacking the Regional Secretary and Mualem's staff while they are working, it is the same as attacking Mualem's leadership itself. If this is true, then from a political ethical perspective, the position of the DPRA Speaker also deserves evaluation," he stressed.[]
