Minister Teten Will Report To Jokowi About Discussion Of The Cooperative Bill

Menkop UKM Teten Masduki (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM) Teten Masduki said he would immediately report to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) regarding the Draft Cooperative Law (RUU) which has not been ratified by the DPR RI.

Teten said that actually the Cooperative Bill had been submitted by the government to the leadership of the DPR RI through the Presidential Letter (Surpres) of the Republic of Indonesia as of September 19, 2023.

However, he acknowledged that the discussion of the Cooperative Bill had not yet been included in the discussion agenda at Commission VI of the DPR RI.

"Yes, I want to report it to the president because the Bill on Amendments to the Cooperative Law, right, there is already a presidential decree and it has been scheduled in the DPR, but it turns out that there is no discussion," said Teten in response to VOI's questions when met after the Forwakop Discussion regarding the Role of MSMEs in Downstreaming the Aquaculture and Agriculture Sector, Friday, March 8.

He claimed that Commission VI of the DPR RI had promised to discuss this immediately after the 2024 general election period (election) was over. However, until now the promise has not been realized.

"At that time, friends at Commission VI of the DPR RI promised (discussed) after the 2024 election. Later, the legs will see again," he added.

As previously reported, Suroto Cooperative Observers assessed that the government to ratify the regulation was just a false promise.

"The government's promise which has repeatedly targeted the immediate ratification of the Cooperative Law is only an empty message," Suroto told VOI, Wednesday, February 28.

Based on his records, since Teten Masduki served as Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs (Menkop UKM), the government has promised 11 times to target the ratification of the regulation. However, it always fails and repeats itself.

In addition, Suroto said, Minister Teten Masduki was not serious in managing cooperative policies.

"If it is serious, actually important articles, such as the development of cooperative-specific Deposit Insurance Corporations, tax distingsion and so on, can actually be done through the ratification of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, the Omnibus Law on Strengthening and Development of the Financial Sector (PPSK) and the Omnibus Law on Tax Harmonization," he said.

According to him, it feels strange that there are articles that regulate cooperatives and are added, for example, about coaching. However, articles that are important to remove discrimination against cooperatives so far have not been carried out.