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Opposition criticizes Perppu on job creation, refuses to buy into government’s reasoning
Two opposition parties in the House of Representatives – the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – have criticized the controversial issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation and the government’s reasoning behind the decision.
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A student protester holds up a poster based on the packaging design of a headache medicine on Oct. 8, 2020 during a demonstration on Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The poster reads: “The omnibus law causes headaches, environmental damage, workers’ oppression.” (JP/Seto Wardhana)
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wo opposition parties in the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), have criticized the controversial issuance of a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on job creation and the government’s reasoning behind the decision.
“Perppu No. 2/2022 is a constitutional disaster, as it could hurt our democracy and undermine the hierarchy of the law in this country,” Ledia Hanifa Amaliah, the secretary of the PKS faction at the House, said in a written statement.
The Perppu, signed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Friday, is meant to replace the Jobs Creation Law, which had been declared “conditionally unconstitutional” by the Constitutional Court (MK) in late 2021. The court gave the government and the House until November 2023 to redo the lawmaking process of the jobs law, but Ledia accused the government of ignoring legal hierarchy and the need for public participation by issuing the Perppu.
The Perppu must be passed by the House by the end of its next session to become permanent legislation.
In announcing the issuance of the Perppu on Friday, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto cited the ongoing conflict in Ukraine as one of the reasons behind the government’s urgency "to anticipate the threat of global recession, rising inflation and the possibility of stagflation".
But Democratic Party politician Herzaky Mahendra Putra questioned this reasoning as it contradicted earlier statements made by the government regarding the country’s economy.
“The government has repeatedly bragged about its economic achievements in the last two quarters. [...] It has even allocated trillions of rupiah for huge projects like the Nusantara Capital City [IKN] and the Jakarta-Bandung high speed train," Herzaky told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
