Economist Rizal Ramli testifying for the Petitioners at the formal judicial review hearing of the Job Creation Law, Thursday (7/27/2023). Photo by Humas MK/Panji.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — Economist Rizal Ramli testified as the Petitioners’ expert at a formal judicial review hearing of Law No. 6 of 2023 on the Stipulation of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 2 of 2022 on Job Creation into Law on Thursday, July 27, 2023. The hearing had been scheduled for case No. 54/PUU-XXI/2023, filed by fifteen workers’ unions or federations.
In his testimony, Rizal revealed the reasons and justification why the Job Creation Law is unnecessary. He believes the Government’s claim of compelling crisis situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of global crisis was nonsense since he observed that Indonesia’s economy 2020–2023 grew around 5%. This indicates that there was no compelling crisis situation and that the issue could be overcome by innovative methods. He believes that a compelling crisis situation would have to mean that recession had occurred and it was necessary to return everything back to normal.
He also said that another reason the Government proposed to justify the Law was to simplify regulations, permits, and overlapping provisions, thus improving investments. The former Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Resources (August 2015-July 2016) admitted that Indonesia has complex bureaucracy and permits, which the Job Creation Law even exacerbated.
“Please observe how the Law, which is 1,000 pages with 500-page elucidation, is claimed to have simplified [regulations] but has many conflicting ideas that even big enterprises had to hire lawyers to make sense. Think about [how it impacted] small- and medium-sized businesses. If it is really to help small business, just make it a 50-page document so that there is no doubt on the substance of the Law. This Law has even allowed for bureaucrats to use it for extortion. It did not increase investments significantly, except for mining. Investments on manufacture continues to decline even more so than Vietnam and Thailand,” Rizal explained before Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra and the other seven constitutional justices.
Harming Workers
Rizal also said the Job Creation Law had been damaging to workers and their families. He illustrated the lifetime outsourcing system that it allows. Such a system normally only applies temporarily, for example for three months, except for industries for which the system is appropriate. As a consequence, he added, workers do not get adequate health benefits nor they have stable livelihoods for their families. This, he asserted, is a form of modern slavery, which happens because the Law encroached on the rights of workers, no different from the colonial era when Indonesians did not have much in the way of chance to improve their living.
Pillars of Economy
Rizal reminded the Indonesian Government and people that the founders’ vision was to form a welfare state, not to bring about a speculative, arbitrary capitalist system. The state, cooperatives, and the private sector serve as pillars that ensure the most ideal economic welfare for Indonesia. As such, Indonesia will become a prosperous, intelligent nation. However, the formation of the Job Creation Law, he said, was a clear violation of the 1945 Constitution since its norms impoverish workers and treat them as mere production tools, not part of the people deserving welfare.
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At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, May 31, the Petitioners’ legal counsel Alif Fachrul Rachmad stated that the formation of the Job Creation Law must have complied with Law No. 12 of 2011 on Lawmaking. He added that the Petitioners believe that the Job Creation Law is formally flawed because it—which was formerly the Job Creation Perppu—was ratified during a recess. The Petitioners found the legal fact that the perppu, which was the precursor to the Job Creation Law, was stipulated on December 30, 2022—during the recess period of the House of Representatives (DPR). This, they claim, is a real violation of Article 22 of the 1945 Constitution and Article 52 paragraph (1) of the Lawmaking Law.
The main issue in this formal review is that the formation [of the Job Creation Law] did not meet the provisions of Article 22 paragraphs (2) and (3) of the 1945 Constitution, which stipulates that a perppu must have the House’s approval in the following session, otherwise it must be revoked. What ‘the following’ means, if we refer to the elucidation to Article 52 paragraph (1) of the Lawmaking Law, it explains that ‘the following’ means the first House session after the perppu is stipulated.
Alif added that the following session after the Job Creation perppu was in effect was the third session period of 2022/2023, which started on January 10, 2023 and ended on February 16, 2023. The Petitioners believe that, following Article 22 paragraphs (2) and (3) of the 1945 Constitution in conjunction with the elucidation to Article 52 paragraph (1) of the Lawmaking Law. In the session period, the perppu did not receive the House’s approval. Only on March 21, or outside of that period, did it receive the House’s approval. As such, and as the perppu did not receive the House’s approval in the first session period, it must be annulled and not be able to receive the House’s ratification to become a law.
The time limit in Article 22 paragraphs (2) and (3) of the 1945 Constitution in conjunction with the elucidation to Article 52 paragraph (1) of the Lawmaking Law on the implementation of a perppu, Alif continued, is in line with presidential discretion in enacting it—i.e. in a compelling crisis situation, which requires that it be stipulated into a law immediately. Therefore, any claim that the perppu was still in effect thanks to the House’s approval in its plenary meeting during the fourth session period of 2023 is definitely inaccurate.
Author : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Tiara Agustina
Translator : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)
Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.
Thursday, July 27, 2023 | 19:53 WIB 250