By: Gita Oktaviani )*
The ratification of the Job Creation Perppu became a law accompanied by public protests. The government invites parties who object to this Perppu to take legal action by suing the Constitutional Court. This permit shows that the government is upholding democracy and new legal rules may be challenged, as long as they comply with procedures.
After the Job Creation Law was passed in March 2023, the public was surprised because it seemed as if the inauguration was sudden. Even though the government has carefully planned it, the Job Creation Law is guaranteed not to harm the community because workers’ rights still exist and there have been no changes for the worse.
But unfortunately there are parties who object to the Job Creation Law and hold demonstrations to reject it. Demonstrations during a pandemic are strictly prohibited by the authorities. The government asked these parties to stop demonstrating, but just come to the Supreme Court to take legal action and challenge the Job Creation Law.
The Job Creation Law (Ciptaker) was sued in the Constitutional Court (MK). It can be sued by civil society, whether those who work as employees or workers in other fields. Permission to sue this has been expressed by President Jokowi.
In a sense, President Jokowi allowed the lawsuit against the Job Creation Law to be directly in line with the legal route, namely to the Constitutional Court. People should not demonstrate against the law because it will not be effective and will only be a waste of time and energy.
The workers immediately responded to President Jokowi’s statement. Viktor Santoso Tandiasa, one of the workers’ representatives stated that he represented the applicants to register the Application for Review of the Job Creation Law. He explained that his party wanted to test the Perppu against the 1945 Constitution.
As for the applicants, Hasrul Buamona (Lecturer and Health Law Consultant), Siti Badriyah (Migrant CARE Advocacy Coordinator), Harseto Setyadi Rajah (Legal Consultant for Ship’s Crew), Jati Puji Santoso (Former Migrant Crew).
Then, Syaloom Mega G. Matitaputty (Usahid FH Student) and Ananda Luthfia Ramadhani (Usahid FH Student). They gave power to
Viktor Santoso Tandiasa and Zico Leonard Djagardo Simanjuntak.
The issuance of the Job Creation Law is said to be based on considerations of urgent global economic interests that need to be responded to immediately, one of which is due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, this law received a lot of rejection from various parties because its contents were not much different from the first version of the Job Creation Law (issued in 2022), which was declared unconstitutional by the MK. According to the plaintiffs, the contents of this law are also considered to contain problematic articles which are detrimental, especially to laborers and the environment.
The government upholds democracy because it allows lawsuits to the Constitutional Court. First, the people are allowed to read the original draft of the Job Creation Law. Second, if there are those who do not like it, they may file a lawsuit.
Permission to apply to the Constitutional Court shows that the current situation is more flexible. No party should equate President Jokowi’s government with the New Order era. The reason is because in the past there was no such thing as a lawsuit against the Constitutional Court. Even those who make the slightest sound will be included in the list and hunted by Peter.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated that the criticism occurred because the public had not studied the Job Creation Law in its entirety. There are also those who read the headlines without reading the contents. However, he invited the public to discuss and socialize the Job Creation Law.
In a sense, if someone accuses that the Job Creation Law is detrimental to society, then they are gravely mistaken. The reason is because this law is designed to benefit Indonesian citizens, both workers and employers.
The public is asked not to just read news about the Job Creation Law from incompetent media. This is very dangerous because currently many online media use click-bait tricks, where the news headlines are sensational but the content is different from the title. If people make their own conclusions, it will cause confusion.
The public should study and read the original text of the Job Creation Law on the government’s official website, and it can be accessed for free. By studying paragraph by paragraph of this Perppu, they will understand that regulations are enforced to benefit the community.
If the public studies the Job Creation Law from the original text on the government’s official website, they will understand this regulation. The law is designed for Indonesia’s future because it is profitable for investors. When the investment world benefits, the community also benefits because the industry in Indonesia is getting more advanced and automatically opens up many new job vacancies.
Granting permission to challenge the Job Creation Law to the Constitutional Court shows that the government is upholding democracy. The reason is because the voice of the people is still being heard. However, the public need not worry because this law will improve the future of Indonesian citizens.
)* The author is a contributor to the Window Baca Institute
