PRIME NEWS POST 

The INDONESIAN, (Jakarta) — The Secretary General of the Indonesian Customary Council (Majelis Adat Indonesia/MAI), M. Rafik Datuk Rajo Kuaso, has expressed his full support for the struggle of the Kings, Sultans, and Traditional Leaders of the Archipelago in urging the immediate enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Law as a legitimate, strong, and binding national legal framework.

This statement was reaffirmed in response to long-standing constitutional facts, including the results of a 2011 Constitutional Court (MK) Study, which explicitly stated that the regulation of indigenous customary law communities cannot be delegated to regional regulations, as the 1945 Constitution mandates such regulation through a national law. The document was officially published on the Constitutional Court’s website (mkri.id) and therefore holds full legal legitimacy. This further emphasizes that the recognition, protection, and respect for indigenous peoples must no longer be left without a national legal umbrella.

M. Rafik Datuk Rajo Kuaso stressed that the struggle for the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Law is a constitutional mandate, not the agenda of a particular group or elite customary interests.

“This is neither a royal agenda nor the interest of a small group. This is a direct mandate of the 1945 Constitution. The state is obliged to provide a legal framework for all indigenous customary law communities across the Archipelago,” he asserted.

He added that in the absence of the Indigenous Peoples Law, indigenous communities remain in a legal grey area, making them vulnerable to the seizure of customary lands, agrarian conflicts, forced displacement from ancestral territories, the criminalization of indigenous peoples, and the neglect of their traditional rights.

The MAI Secretary General further emphasized that once the Indigenous Peoples Law is enacted, the Indonesian Customary Council (MAI) will obtain legitimate national legal standing under the Constitution, and will no longer operate solely within the social and moral sphere. Instead, MAI will become an official national customary institution with a strategic position in safeguarding, protecting, and upholding customary law throughout the Archipelago.

“The Indigenous Peoples Law will establish MAI as the constitutionally recognized frontline guardian of Nusantara’s customary heritage. This is the great aspiration of the Kings and a historical mandate of the nation,” Datuk Rajo Kuaso continued.

The statement of the MAI Secretary General is also in line with the position of Maharaja Kutai Mulawarman, who previously expressed full support for MAI as an inseparable part of the long struggle toward the birth of the Indigenous Peoples Law. According to the Maharaja, without this law, MAI will continue to face legal challenges, the struggle of indigenous peoples will remain prolonged, and legal certainty for customary law will continue to be delayed.

To this day, the decisive gavel strike of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) that will determine the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Law is still being awaited. The legal-political process has not yet been formalized into law, although public expectations continue to grow stronger.

The MAI Secretary General emphasized that all indigenous peoples across the Archipelago are now placing great hope in the DPR RI, that this historic decision will determine whether the state truly stands with indigenous communities, or once again leaves them in legal uncertainty.

“This is not merely about a law. This is the state’s recognition of the very identity of the nation itself,” M. Rafik Datuk Rajo Kuaso concluded.

About the Indonesian Customary Council (MAI)

The Indonesian Customary Council (Majelis Adat Indonesia/MAI) is a national customary institution born from the collective awareness of the Kings, Sultans, Datuk, Queens, and Traditional Leaders of the Archipelago to uphold the dignity of customary values, national morality, customary lands, and the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples throughout Indonesia.

Editorial Note:
Reported by the PRIME NEWS POST correspondent, compiled from various media sources. Photo: documentation / public archive