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Jokowi assures investors after court ruling on jobs law
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Priorities: A protester holds a sign that reads “Overcome the virus, withdraw the omnibus [law]” during a protest on Nov. 12, 2020 outside the House of Representatives in Senayan, Central Jakarta. Workers continue to demand that the government repeal the Job Creation Law. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has promised businesses that their investments will not be affected by the recent Constitutional Court ruling on the Job Creation Law, saying his administration would immediately work on a do-over of the lawmaking process.
The procedure of passing the law -- the key legislative item in the President’s ambitious yet controversial reform agenda -- was recently declared unconstitutional by the court, which also ruled that the government and the House of Representatives must start the lawmaking process again from scratch within two years. If they fail to do so, the law will be permanently repealed and all the previous laws it has replaced must be reinstated. In the meantime, the law remains effective.
“In a democratic nation that is based on the rule of law, the government respects and will immediately implement what has been ruled by the Constitutional Court," Jokowi said in a press conference on Monday, in his first official response to Thursday’s ruling.
"I have instructed the coordinating ministers and other related ministers to immediately follow up on the ruling as soon as possible."
The ruling was a major blow to Jokowi’s bid to cut red tape and bring in investment to Indonesia. Economists feared it would bring back business uncertainty, especially as interest from foreign investors has been steadily growing in Indonesia as an attractive investment destination.
Jokowi, however, gave an assurance that the ruling clearly said the law was still in effect pending the lawmaking do-over.
“All material and substance in the law and [existing implementing] regulations remain in effect without any provisions being revoked or declared invalid by the court," he said. "Therefore, I assure businesses and investors, both domestic and international, that the investments that have been made and investments that are being processed and will be in process are safe and secure."
