It’s Time to Get Closer to People

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

The logos of political parties are displayed at the General Elections Commission (KPU) office, Jakarta, Wednesday (22/1/2020).

To overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, many countries, even the world as a whole, have postponed big plans to concentrate all forces on the virus.

Around 20 countries have postponed general or local elections. Many global events, including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that was supposed to be held from 24 July to 9 August 2020, have been postponed to 2021.

This concentration of forces is not yet reflected in this country. Even though the pandemic has gone more and more out of control, as seen in the surge of new cases and the number of patients dying day by day, the focus of the nation is still divided.

The House of Representatives and the government are still busy discussing controversial draft laws that have triggered much debate and are draining public energy.

Until now, there is no legal basis for postponing the simultaneous election scheduled for later this year to determine 270 regional leaders. The House of Representatives and the government are still busy discussing controversial draft laws that have triggered much debate and are draining public energy.

The Criminal Code (KUHP) bill and the job creation bill are some of them. Civil society groups have been demanding that the House of Representatives and the President postpone deliberations on these draft laws (Kompas, 7/4/2020).

Also read : Postpone Elections, Focus on Covid-19

The House has argued that it is impossible to stop the legislation process, but many people worry that the real reason to continue the process is more pragmatic, namely that lawmakers are trying to avoid scrutiny while they deliberate the bill.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

People stage a rally to reject the job creation bill in front of the House of Representatives building, Jakarta, Monday (20/1/2020).

The Covid-19 pandemic is an extraordinary global phenomenon. The response to it should not be ordinary. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, any public consultation -- as part of the bill’s deliberation – would have to be very limited. Forcing passage of a bill that is so controversial is truly unwise.

In a democratic country, the ideal goal of a legislation product is to regulate people\'s lives for the better. Public consultation, therefore, is one of the prerequisites. A proper legislation process will produce regulations that have a "soul", not just paper.

Also read : Prevent Further Spread of COVID-19

At present, all elements of the nation should focus on only one thing, namely how to make this nation overcome the pandemic as quickly as possible. It must immediately break the chain of transmission of a virus that has already spread widely and treat the infected people quickly and precisely. Any plans that could slow down those efforts need to be postponed, while various things that can accelerate the efforts need to be encouraged.

The longer this pandemic lasts, the greater the suffering of this nation will be. At stake are the lives of tens of thousands of people. Now, all the people are worried about this and expect the storm to pass as soon as possible. It\'s time for all the elite leaders to show “total football” to help the people. In preventing the virus transmission, we need to keep our distance. On this issue, however, the elite should not keep its distance but get closer to the people.