The Government’s witnesses taking oath before testifying at the formal judicial review hearing of the Job Creation Law, Tuesday (8/29/2023). Photo by MKRI/Ifa.
JAKARTA (MKRI) — The Government/President presented Turro Selrits Wongkaren, Bibit Gunawan, Faisal Santiago, and Elviandri as witnesses 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. The seventh hearing for case No. 54/PUU-XXI/2023, took place on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 in the plenary courtroom.
Director of Borobudur University’s postgraduate program Faisal Santiago testified about the public consultation for the Job Creation Bill, which was organized to implement the mandate of lawmaking, in this case to meet the aspect of meaningful participation, which requires public testing, dissemination, and/or consultation as set forth in Law No. 13 of 2022 on Lawmaking. The Job Creation taskforce had also disseminated information to relevant stakeholders to collect inputs on the Bill to make it better and beneficial to the people.
“In the public consultation, the question and answer session relating to manpower in the bill on the stipulation of the Job Creation Perppu got a little intense. Lecturers and students of the doctoral program of Borobudur University gave many critical inputs relating to manpower. The speakers listened, provided explanation, and considered the inputs to consolidate them in a government regulation,” he said.
Discussion between Speakers and Participants
Next, Elviandri, an academic at the Muhammadiyah University of East Kalimantan (UMKT), talked about moderating the first session of public consultation on the bill on the stipulation of the Job Creation Perppu No. 2 of 2022 at Mercure Hotel, Samarinda on February 6, 2023. UMKT rector Bambang Setiaji also attended the event to explain the similarity of the omnibus method in lawmaking and the general equilibrium theory, which attempts to explain all market in a whole economy to assess general equilibrium. The omnibus method was expected to give solutions to regulatory challenges comprehensively. Elviandri revealed that the speakers and participants engaged in a discussion at the event, both on site and online.
Meanwhile, DKI Jakarta Province’s Wage Board member Turro Selrits Wongkaren testified that as an academic, he was asked by the Ministry of Manpower to provide inputs on the determination of the provincial minimum wage (UMP) of 2023 at meetings that invited relevant ministries/agencies and academics.
“There were debates on the formula of the UMP and the legal aspect relating to the Constitutional Court’s conditionally conditional verdict in 2021. Finally, the Regulation of Ministry of Manpower No. 18 of 2021 on the new formula of the UMP was issued,” he explained.
Next, Bibit Gunawan testified on behalf of the Federation of Commerce, Banking, Service, and Insurance Workers Union (Forum Serikat Pekerja Niaga, Perbankan, dan Jasa Asuransi or FSP NIBA) about the federation’s audience relating to the legal certainty of the Job Creation Perppu. “In essence, some of our members have provided inputs and listened to the Government’s explanation at an audience on February 15, 2023 with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs,” he said online.
Justices’ Response
In response to Wongkaren’s testimony on his participation prior to the promulgation of the Job Creation Law, Constitutional Justice Wahiduddin Adams asked about the materials presented during the public consultation since the Job Creation Law at the time had not existed yet. He asked the other three witnesses if the speakers’ presentations only attached the stipulation of the perppu.
“Because the perppu was stipulated by the President, my question is how it was explained at the time? Since the bill had not been approved by the House and this was before March 30, 2023,” he asked.
Meanwhile, Constitutional Justice Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh asked the Government who were involved in the revision of the Job Creation Law and the bill on the stipulation of Perppu No. 2 of 2022 into Law. He also asked how the revision to the bill was changed into a perppu, given that Wongkaren revealed that he had been involved in two processes of the drafting of the Job Creation Law. Next, Deputy Chief Justice Saldi Isra asked about the House’s attendance during the public consultation of the meetings that the Government’s witnesses had attended. Upon their response, he asked the Government for a written testimony and evidence for the House’s absence in those meetings.
Also read:
Ratified During Recess, Job Creation Law Challenged Formally
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House, President Explain Formation of Job Creation Law
Economist: No Compelling Economic Crisis That Warranted Job Creation Law
Petitioners’ Expert: Govt Did Not Fix Procedure to Amend Job Creation Law
Formation of Job Creation Law to Economists
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, May 31, the Petitioners argued that the formation of the Job Creation Law must have complied with the Lawmaking Law. They believe that the Job Creation Law is formally flawed because it—formerly the Job Creation Perppu—was ratified during a recess. They found a 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.
In addition, in their petition, the Petitioners explained that fear of the impact of global economic crisis on Indonesia’s economy did not justify any claim that there had been a compelling crisis situation that required the issuance of a perppu. They also asserted that there had been no legal vacuum to address since the existing Law was still able to address legal issues in society. Lastly, the regulation was a form of contempt of the Constitutional Court and was a bad precedent on the part of the President that set an example if disobedience
Author : Sri Pujianti
Editor : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR : Fitri Yuliana
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.
Tuesday, August 29, 2023 | 16:19 WIB 163