Polemic Of Job Creation Law, PBNU: Material Testing Pathway To The Constitutional Court Is Better Than Mass Mobilization During The Pandemic

JAKARTA - The Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) Executive Board issued an official statement regarding legislation and the ratification of the Job Creation Law which is currently causing a polemic in the community.

Launching nu.or, id, this official statement was signed by the Chairman of PBNU KH Said Aqil Siroj and Secretary General Helmy Faishal Zaini, 8 October 2020.

In this statement of stance, the PBNU appreciates every effort made by the state to fulfill the basic rights of citizens to work and a decent living for humanity. However, in its steps, the PBNU regretted that the legislative process for the Job Creation Law was hasty, closed, and did not open itself to public aspirations.

In this situation, Nahdlatul Ulama is committed to remain with those who seek justice by taking the constitutional route by submitting a judicial review to the Constitutional Court. This step will be the best and honorable route in seeking justice compared to mass mobilization, especially in the midst of a pandemic which has not abated to date.

Official Stance of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board Regarding the Enactment of the Job Creation Law pic.twitter.com/MdKJEtynUY

- Nahdlatul Ulama (@nahdlatululama) October 8, 2020

The following is the full statement of the PBNU's Official Position Regarding the Job Creation Law which consists of nine statement points:

1. Nahdlatul Ulama appreciates every effort made by the state to fulfill the basic rights of citizens to work and a decent life for humanity. Job opportunities are created by providing business opportunities. Opportunity to grow with a good and conducive business climate. A good business climate requires easy permits and bureaucratic simplicity. The Job Creation Law is intended to attract investment with the hope of increasing employment and channeling the demographic bonus so that it can leverage growth and get out of the middle-income trap.

2. However, Nahdlatul Ulama regrets that the legislative process of the Ciptaker Law was hasty, closed, and reluctant to open up to public aspirations. To regulate a very broad field, which includes 76 laws, requires patience, thoroughness, caution, and broad stakeholder participation. In the midst of a pandemic atmosphere, forcing the passage of laws that create public resistance is a bad form of state practice.

3. Good intentions to create jobs must not be harmed by opening everything up into commercial fields open to business licensing. The education sector is a field that should not be managed with purely commercial motives, because it is a basic right that must be provided by the state. Nahdlatul Ulama regrets the emergence of Article 65 of the Ciptaker Law, which includes education in a field that is open to business licensing. This will plunge Indonesia into educational capitalism. In turn, the best education can only be enjoyed by those who have it.

4. Efforts to attract investment must also be accompanied by protection of workers' rights. The implementation of a flexible labor market (labor market flexibility) which is realized by the expansion of the PKWT (Fixed Time Contract Worker) system and outsourcing will be detrimental to the majority of Indonesian workers who are still dominated by workers with limited skills. Nahdlatul Ulama can understand the concerns of workers and workers about Article 81 of the Ciptaker Law which amends several provisions in Law no. 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower. The elimination of a maximum period of 3 (three) years for non-permanent contracts (Article 59) increases the risk of workers becoming temporary workers throughout the industry. Reducing workers' rights components such as severance pay, reward pay and reimbursement may please investors, but harm the guarantee of decent living for workers and workers.

5. Efforts to attract investment must also be accompanied by environmental protection and conservation of natural resources. Emphasizing the extractive sector with a number of incentives and discretions for mining business actors, such as the imposition of a 0% royalty rate as stated in Article 39 of the Job Creation Law, threatens the environment and neglects energy security. Instead of changing the contents of Law no. 3 of 2020 concerning Minerba which strengthens state domination and oligarchy, the Job Creation Law extends and widened the red carpet for business actors. The government guarantees unlimited investment and ministerial discretion for mining business actors who carry out integrated upstream-downstream businesses to extract mineral reserves until they run out. This ignores the dimensions of conservation, environmental carrying capacity, and long-term energy security. The government even dispensed with the use of public roads for mining activities, which clearly damaged public facilities built with public money.

6. Efforts to attract investment must not compromise food security based on farmer independence. Article 64 of the Ciptaker Law which amends several articles in Law No. 18/2012 concerning Food has the potential to make imports as a pillar for national food supply. Amendment to Article 14 of the Food Law juxtaposes imports and domestic production in one article. This will give rise to food capitalism and expand rent-seeking space for food importers.

7. The spirit of the Job Creation Law is centralization, including the issue of halal certification. Article 48 of the Job Creation Law which changes several provisions in Law no. 33 of 2014 concerning Halal Product Guarantee affirms the concentration and monopoly of fatwas to one institution. The centralization and monopoly of fatwas, amidst the enthusiasm of the growing sharia industry, can create an overload that hinders the success of the certification program. In addition, the state is strengthening the industrial bias paradigm in the halal certification process. Qualification of the halal auditor as emphasized in Article 14 is a bachelor in food, chemistry, biochemistry, industrial engineering, biology, pharmacy, medicine, culinary, or agriculture. The neglect of sharia scholars as halal auditors shows that halal certification is very industry biased, as if it is only related to the food production process, but ignores the food supply mechanism in a broad sense.

8. Nahdlatul Ulama accompanies those who seek justice by taking the constitutional route by submitting a judicial review to the Constitutional Court. In an atmosphere of pandemic and joint efforts to cut the chain of transmission, legal action is the best and respectable way to seek justice compared to mass mobilization.

9. May Allah always protect and help the Indonesian people in solving various problems of the nation.