Observers Say, Job Creation Act Has Included Public Participation

JAKARTA - Political observer Adi Prayitno and economic observer Piter Abdullah disagreed with the assessment of the Constitutional Court (MK) which considered that the creation of the Job Creation Law did not meet the principle of openness in including public participation. They were asked for their comments on the Constitutional Court's decision on the Job Creation Act which was in the spotlight of various parties, Sunday, November 28.

According to the political observer of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah, Adi Prayitno, during the process of forming the Ciptaker Law, the government and the DPR were open to input from various parties, including academics and workers. Adi also reminded that demonstrations against the Copyright Act only appeared after the law was passed.

“During the manufacturing process, the workers and a number of parties could submit a counter-law draft, for example. The government and the DPR are actually open to input from anyone," he said.

Adi also stated that what actually happened was that many parties did not provide input during the law-making process because of the complexity of the problem. Moreover, the Copyright Act summarizes many laws.

Meanwhile, the Research Director of the Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia, Piter Abdullah considers that the issue of transparency is very subjective, depending on who is judging. What is clear is that the process of making the Ciptaker Law is exactly the same as that of making other laws, in accommodating the aspirations of the community.

Both of them also disagreed with the view of a number of workers that the determination of the provincial minimum wage (UMP) was automatically invalidated by the Constitutional Court's decision. Because even without the Copyright Act, the government has the authority to set wages. In fact, Adi said that the workers' statements regarding the UMP which had to be canceled due to the Constitutional Court's decision were irrelevant.

Adi further assessed that the Constitutional Court's decision on the Copyright Act was paradoxical. This is because the Constitutional Court considers the Job Creation Act to be contrary to the 1945 Constitution, but on the other hand, the Court has given 2 years to revise the Law. As a result, the Constitutional Court's decision caused a commotion in the community.

Nevertheless, Adi believes that the Constitutional Court's decision will not have much impact on the business world because part of the law has already been implemented to carry out economic recovery. “Even the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan and the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board, Bahlil Lahadalia have succeeded in attracting a number of investors from abroad after the birth of the Ciptaker Law. In addition, the business world is still running as usual," said Adi.

Meanwhile, Piter stated that the Constitutional Court's decision could make the large-scale business world or foreign investors take a wait-and-see attitude. But if the government and the DPR can revise the Ciptaker Law as soon as possible, it will not be a problem. “In addition, all of this depends on the communication factor of the government and the DPR to the community. If the communication is not good, even good things can not be received well, he said.

However, Adi reminded that next year is a political year ahead of the general election. In the political year, he said, there could be parties that interfere with the revision process of the Ciptaker law. Therefore, he hopes, the revision of the Ciptaker Law can be completed in a short time to avoid being politicized by certain parties.

Meanwhile, Piter Abdullah said that the Constitutional Court's decision did not involve substance and did not grant the plaintiff's demands. Because the decision is only related to the procedure for making laws. The Constitutional Court also did not abort what the DPR and the government had made.

In addition, Piter also believes that the government and the DPR will soon fulfill the Constitutional Court's orders. He is sure that there will be no major problems in revising the Copyright Law because the government's position in parliament is currently very strong