Not Suggesting Omnibus Law Demo, COVID-19 Task Force: What Is Its Essence, Is It?

Head of the Sub-Division for Mitigation of Behavior Change for the Task Force for Handling COVID-19, Irwan Amrun (Photo: Diah / VOI)

JAKARTA - The Head of the Sub-Division for Mitigation of Behavior Change for the Task Force for Handling COVID-19, Irwan Amrun, questioned the core purpose of the demonstration against the Omnibus Law on the Job Creation Law that was held by workers and a number of people today.

According to Irwan, demonstrations have the essence of conveying messages on a problem, whether agreed upon or not. He said, delivering messages could not only be done by gathering the masses.

"What is the essence of the demonstration? Do you want to convey your aspirations or goals or have one message to be conveyed. The question is, can we distribute the message in another way? Yes," said Irwan in a discussion at Graha BNPB, East Jakarta, Tuesday, 6 August.

Irwan said, in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic that has not subsided, do not let demonstrations by gathering crowds cause new problems, namely an increase in the transmission of the corona virus.

"If we look at the psychology of the masses, the souls become the souls of the masses, so they are no longer individuals. Don't let our friends (demonstrators) over there want to solve a problem, but they create a new problem," he said. Irwan.

According to Irwan, the demonstration would not be able to comply with one of the health protocols, namely maintaining distance. "It seems that in the meantime, if we look at the demonstration, no one can follow the health protocol, from the existing experience," he said.

Therefore, Irwan suggested that demonstrations that gather the masses be replaced with other types of conveying aspirations, such as holding online petitions.

"We take the essence of this message. If there is a problem that we don't like, maybe what can now be done is trending a million signatures. That can also prove something. It doesn't have to be a crowd," he added.