Not Yet Ratified, Jokowi Asks The Public To Be Given An Explanation Of 14 Controversial Issues In The RKUHP

President Jokowi with Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD. (Between)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held an internal meeting to discuss the continuation of the discussion of the Draft Criminal Code (RKUHP). The meeting was attended by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD and Minister of Communication and Information Jhonny G. Plate.

Mahfud MD said that currently the RKUHP is almost final and has entered the final stages of discussion. However, there are still 14 crucial issues that need to be clarified

"It is said that it is almost final because the Draft Criminal Code includes more than 700 articles which, if broken down into detailed materials, could lead to thousands of problems," said Mahfud after a meeting at the Presidential Office, Central Jakarta, Tuesday, August 2.

Seeing this problem, Jokowi ordered his staff to re-socialize to the community. The goal is that the public is given an understanding and they can discuss the article.

Because, said Mahfud, the law is a reflection of people's awareness of life. So, the law to be enacted must also get the understanding and approval of the community. That is the essence of democracy in the context of law enforcement.

"Earlier, the President ordered or asked us, from the government related to this, to once again ensure that the public understands the issues that are still being disputed, so we are asked to discuss again massively with the community, to provide understanding and instead ask opinions and suggestions from the community," said Mahfud.

Furthermore, Mahfud revealed that there were 14 potentially controversial issues and more open discussions would be carried out more proactively through 2 channels.

The first path, the government and the DPR will continue to discuss and resolve these 14 issues. The second route, he continued, the government continues to conduct socialization and discussion to the community nodes related to the issues that are still being discussed.

"The president asked that this issue be properly considered, and we will schedule both in the DPR building and outside the DPR building, namely in government institutions," said Mahfud.

To facilitate the socialization of the RKUHP, the government agreed to form an event organizer fronted by the Minister of Communication and Information Johnny G. Plate and the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

"Later on, the EO or the organizer of the discussions and facilities for this will be carried out by the Minister of Communication and Information, Mr. Johnny G. Plate," said Mahfud.

"Then the material will be prepared by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights for 14 issues that are still being questioned by the public, to be further sharpened," he added.

For information, 14 crucial issues that will be re-socialized to the government include living law, capital punishment, the dignity of the president/vice president, witchcraft, dentists, poultry destroying the yard.

Furthermore, contempt of court, fraudulent advocates, blasphemy, animal abuse, contraception, homelessness, abortion, and crimes of decency and against the body.

From the results of improvements made by the government, there were several points that were deleted, including those related to dentists and fraudulent advocates. In addition, several new points were added, namely regarding storage, publishing and printing.