The final draft of the bill, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, is 905 pages long and amends 79 prevailing laws, including the Labor Law, the Spatial Planning Law and Environmental Management Law.

The Job Creation Law, which is one of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s key priorities in his second and final term, is expected to improve bureaucratic efficiency and cut red tape, particularly in regard to business permits and investment.

The government’s expectation has pushed the law to make significant adjustments to labor rules and business licensing processes, all of which have been criticized, as they are considered to infringe on labor rights and put the environment at risk.

Until the moment of its passage, the law met mounting resistance from labor unions and environmentalists as well as rejection from House factions of the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

In a plenary session on Monday, led by Deputy House Speaker Azis Syamsuddin of the Golkar Party, House Legislation Body (Baleg) chairman Supratman Andi Agtas said the deliberation of the bill had taken place from April 20 to Oct. 3, adding that lawmakers and the government had been holding meetings, even on weekends, to expedite the deliberation.

"The deliberation was careful enough until the end. All factions paid attention to workers' rights in the decision-making process,” the Gerindra Party politician said.

Popular

Freezing of protester’s bank account draws flak

Growing regional discontent

Indonesia’s rare earth push faces low-content, costly extraction hurdles