Act 17/2012 on Cooperatives wants to build a cooperative equivalent to another legal entity. It is delivered by members of Commission III Ruhut Sitompul in Cooperatives Act’s review held by Constitutional Court (MK) on Monday (9/9). The advanced trial with the case number 60/PUU-XI/2013 is led by Chief Justice M. Akil Mochtar.

"Cooperatives Act also aims to enhance the role and function optimally and modern cooperatives so as to generate income for its members in particular and society in general to keep running the cooperative principles that promote the principle of kinship and common prosperity," said Ruhut in Plenary Room.

Applicant interprets that there is only one container cooperatives, namely Dekopin. In fact, continued Ruhut, there is no article in the Cooperatives Act only mention Dekopin that only a single forum for the cooperative movement to organize. "Whereas Article 17 of Law quo refers to the entire cooperative movement cooperative organizations and none of them led to the formation of a single organization or container in order to prevent other cooperative organizations," he said.

Seen Intact

Meanwhile, the Government representative expressed by Setyo Heriyanto cannot see the Cooperatives Act separately and must be viewed as a whole. Cooperatives passage is to foster a strong cooperative, healthy, independent, and resilient.

"The petitioners are not observant and comprehensive in understanding the Cooperatives Act , in other words, the assumptions of the Petitioners are not related at all to the issue of the constitutionality of the enforceability of the material petitioned for it," he explained.

Applicant consists of Yayasan Bina Desa Sadajiwa, Insani Cooperative Work, Women Headed Household Empowerment Foundation, the Association of Women’s Small Business Assistance (ASPPUK), Association of Women’s Resource Development Center (PPSW), Institute of Research and Development Cooperative (LePPek), as well as some individual applicant objected with some articles in the Law on Cooperatives. According to the applicant, according to the definition of cooperatives Act that puts the cooperative only as a "legal entity" and / or as a subject in real conflict with the ideology of the nation’s ideals set forth in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution. Defining the cooperative result in "cooperative corporatization", i.e. the emergence of companies claiming to be cooperative with the status of legal entities, but does not have an identity cooperative and do not co-operative principles and just do the business alone.

While the equity, then the members of the cooperative will be the object of exploitation, creating dependency, lost initiative and ultimately lead to low participation of members of the cooperative. Then, the provision of Indonesia Cooperative Council 1angka as provided in Article 18, Article 115, Article 116, Article 117 and Article 118 , and Article 119 of the Law on Cooperatives is has obviously made the position of the cooperative movement became part of the subordinate from outside and eliminate the autonomy of the cooperative movement that should gain recognition and protection. (Lulu Anjarsari / mh)