Jakarta, fusilatnews.- Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo signed an emergency regulation on Friday to replace a controversial job creation law that a court had ruled was flawed, arguing global economic uncertainty next year gives him a legal basis for such a move. Some legal experts criticised the regulation as a government ploy to bypass proper debate in parliament.
Bivitri Susanti, a constitutional law expert from the Indonesia Jentera School of Law, called the move “ridiculous” and “inappropriate” as it would cut debate time in parliament. “Everyone can see there is no emergency. It’s holiday time,” she said. “This emergency regulation is really a fait accompli from the president.” An emergency regulation is usually effective immediately, but must receive parliament’s endorsement by the end of its next session to become permanent legislation. Parliament is due to return from recess on Jan. 10 for what is typically a four-month session.
While fuslilatnews’s law scholar, M. Yamin Nasution, wrote that the omnibus method will never be able to fulfill the formal requirements of the law, is the best and very bad solution in the rule of law system. As I previously stated that “The Omnibus Contempt and Betrayal of Pancasila ” that no legal expert is familiar with the omnibus method, and it has never been introduced in any law campus in Indonesia, even globally. As for the Omnibus method, which was actually made based on the wishes of the private sector when they were going to make an investment, basically the omnibus is an emergency Law on State Finances due to Debt
Denny Indrayana criticized President Joko Widodo’s (Jokowi) move to issue Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation or Perpu Cipta Kerja. The Deputy Minister of Law and Human Rights in the era of President Yudhoyono considered that Jokowi did not respect and has abused the decisions and institutions of the Constitutional Court (MK).
Denny concludes that the Job Creation Perppu makes use of the concept of a compelling crisis. This Perppu also negates the Constitutional Court Decision Number 91 because when a legal product is declared unconstitutional, the legislator must implement the Constitutional Court’s decision.
The Constitutional Court last year ruled the passage of the president’s vaunted Jobs Creation Law was flawed due to inadequate public consultation and ordered lawmakers to restart the process within two years, or it would be deemed unconstitutional. “We know it looks like we’re normal now, but global uncertainty, risks are haunting us. Actually the world is not doing fine,” the president, widely known as Jokowi, told a news conference.
Passed in 2020, the so-called “omnibus” law revised more than 70 other laws and was lauded by foreign investors for streamlining business rules in Southeast Asia’s largest economy, which is notorious for its onerous bureaucracy.
Surprised by Chairman of the Labour Party, Said Iqbal, who at first strongly opposed this law, said he backed the emergency regulation because with general elections in 2024, parliamentary debate could be held up and at risk of being influenced by corruption. Among the biggest issues with the law were relaxed rules on severance pay, changes to the minimum wage formula, contract labour and outsourcing, and a stipulation that environmental studies be required only for high-risk investments.
He declined to comment on the content of the regulation but concurred that workers had been consulted by government officials and a business group over revisions in the law.
It seems that out of the question stated by Jokowi’s chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said the main considerations in issuing the emergency rules were a global recession risk in 2023, the conflict in Ukraine, the potential for global food, energy and monetary crises, as well as climate change. And a strange comment came from Chief security minister Mahfud MD who said “strategic measures” were needed in this case as the regular process to comply with the ruling would take too long.
