"Following our discussion on the Omnibus Law, I request the drafts to be completed this week," Jokowi ordered his ministers during a limited meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta, Wednesday.
During the meeting, Jokowi asked his ministers to set a time frame for the completion of the Omnibus Law drafts. The meeting was attended by Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin; ministers of the Indonesia Maju Cabinet; the National Police Chief, Gen. Pol. Idham Azis; the Intelligence Agency chief, Budi Gunawan; and the Attorney General, Sanitiar Burhanuddin.
Since being elected to a second term in office, President Widodo had vowed to revise at least 74 prevailing laws and synchronize them into a single law, a concept that was popular as the Omnibus Law. The draft will be submitted to the House of Representatives in mid-January this year, the president targeted.
Under his tenure for the 2019-2024 period, Jokowi's administration has planned to draft several omnibus laws, including the Employment Creation Act, the SMEs Empowerment Act, and the Taxation Act. The laws cover at least 11 clusters and harmonize regulations issued by 30 ministries and agencies.
For an omnibus law on taxation, the president believes it will support Indonesia's tax reform. "Our country will serve as a center of the regional and global economic gravities (once the taxation omnibus bill is passed into a law); I believe the law will have a positive impact on the creation of jobs in Indonesia," he expounded.
Despite the president's optimist stance over the omnibus law, several groups, including labor unions, expressed concerns over the plan. In December last year, a Confederation of the Indonesian Labor Union said the Omnibus Law on Employment Creation Act may hurt domestic workers as it will revise regulations on salary, working hours, and worker protection.
"Our concerns are that the Omnibus Law will harm labor because some of the regulations will allow foreign unskilled workers (to be employed); it will be a massive use of outsourcing, flexible working hours, and a change in the payroll scheme from monthly to hourly," the Confederation of Indonesian Workers' Unions (KSPI) Chairman, Said Iqbal, said in a statement.
Hundreds of workers staged a rally in front of the House of Representatives on Monday (Jan 13) to reject the Omnibus Law on Employment Creation Act. The rally continued next to the Merdeka Presidential Palace on Wednesday (Jan 15).
According to the protesters, the omnibus law may remove regulations on a minimum standard salary and severance pay, while lifting restrictions to outsource workers and unskilled foreign workers. They are also concerned the omnibus law may scrap legal sanctions over irresponsible employers/companies, and also compromise the labor rights to social security.
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Reporter: Desca Lidya Natalia/Genta Tenr
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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