JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—A civil society coalition has filed a judicial review with Indonesia’s Constitutional Court, challenging several laws connected to the implementation of the Red-White Village and Urban Cooperatives (KDKMP/Kopdes Merah Putih) program.

The Coalition of Gugat Kopdes Merah-Putih submitted the petition at the court’s building in Jakarta on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The applicants argue that the program could restrict villages’ authority to set their development priorities and expose village budgets to financial risks.

The petition targets provisions in the 2014 Village Law, as amended in 2024. It also challenges parts of the 1992 Cooperatives Law. Moreover, it challenges the 2022 Law on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments (the HKPD Law).

Muhammad Saleh, a lawyer representing the applicants, said the coalition objected to a centrally directed model. This model allegedly required villages to share the financial burden of a national government program.

“The command-style cooperative management model being implemented today by the Prabowo-Gibran administration does not comply with the mandates and rules set out in the Constitution. Villages have long become victims of various central government programs and policies,” Saleh said after submitting the petition.

The applicants particularly questioned Article 134(3) of the HKPD Law. The provision allows the central government to determine a focus for Village Fund spending each year in line with national priorities. Also, the coalition wants the court to prevent central government assignments from reducing resources that villages use to exercise their own authority.

The challenge comes as the government accelerates the establishment of KDKMP units nationwide. Presidential Instruction No. 9/2025 calls for the creation, development or revitalization of 80,000 cooperatives. It permits funding from the state budget, regional budgets and other lawful sources, according to the official BPK legal database.

The financial implications became more significant under Finance Ministry Regulation No. 7/2026. This regulation adjusts Village Fund allocations by 58.03 percent of each village’s allocation to support KDKMP implementation. The adjusted amount totals Rp34.57 trillion nationally, according to the Finance Ministry.

However, the Constitutional Court (MK) has previously stated that central authority over Village Fund priorities cannot exclude village governments. In a separate 2026 budget case, the court ruled that villages must remain involved when implementing central policies intended to support sustainable village development, according to an official MK report.

The new petition has opened another legal examination of the balance between national development policy and village autonomy. Filing the case does not establish that the contested provisions are unconstitutional. The court must first examine the applicants’ legal standing and arguments before deciding the merits.