"We must simplify all regulatory problems. We must cut them down and streamline them," said President Joko Widodo in his inauguration speech at a People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) plenary session on Oct. 20, 2019.
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In his speech, President Jokowi unveiled the plan to issue omnibus laws to harmonize a number of overlapping laws so that they would no longer hamper the decision-making process in this fast-changing era. Since then, the omnibus law has been widely discussed.
There are three bills currently being prepared using the concept of the omnibus law, namely the bill on job creation, the bill on taxation provisions and facilities and the bill on new capital.
There are a large number of laws that will be harmonized. The bill on employment creation alone will affect 75 laws, which consist of 1,244 articles.
It is expected that with the issuance of the omnibus law on job creation, various obstacles to investment can soon be overcome; more jobs will be created; small and medium companies will be promoted; and lead to improved welfare.
However, it seems, even though three months have passed, the public is still uninformed about the plan, let alone understands the substance of the proposed laws. A survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development involving 532 respondents in 17 cities shows a surprising phenomenon. As many as 76.9 percent of respondents said they did not know about the government\'s plan to issue the omnibus law. Respondents who believed that the omnibus law could be realized in line with the government’ plan accounted only for 54.9 percent. In fact, the deregulation of laws is one of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma\'ruf Amin\'s five-year priority programs.
Recently a number of parties have voiced their opposition to the issuance of the omnibus law. They fear that instead of providing more jobs, the bill on employment creation will eliminate workers’ rights and will only benefit a handful of wealthy entrepreneurs.
The opposition could be caused by the lack of transparency or public participation in the drafting process. The drafting of the three omnibus bills, which are being prepared by the government, has not been involved the public. As a result, only an incomplete draft with different forms and versions are circulating in the public.
Chapter XI of Law No. 15 of 2019 concerning the formation of legislation stipulates the importance of community participation. Article 96 (1) affirms that the public has the right to provide input verbally and, or in writing in the formulation of legislation, which includes the stages of planning, drafting, discussion, ratification and enactment. The draft must also be easily accessed.
Now, three months having passed, it is necessary to reaffirm the purpose of the omnibus law. Certainly it is for the sake of the people, not for officials, let alone just for a handful of conglomerates.