BANGKOK – Indonesian President Joko Widodo quietly signed a divisive stimulus bill into law late Monday night, sending hundreds of thousands to the Indonesian streets in protest.
The comprehensive law was first created as an important employment-generating effort that would re-invade Southeast Asia’s largest economy, reduce red tape and clean up rules that discourage investment.
But when they woke up on Tuesday, few Indonesians knew exactly what was in the new law, which has suddenly risen from 812 to 1,187 pages. Increased inconsistencies: Section 6 of 186, for example, refers to Article 5 (1) which was not found anywhere.
“This is the worst legal process in the history of Indonesia,” said Bivitri Susanti, a spokeswoman for the Jantera School of Law in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. “Such a mess has never happened.”
The region has the highest number of coronavirus castles in Indonesia, with at least 14,000 people dying, and this year its economy is on the verge of entering its first recession in more than 20 years.
In a country where such security is already poorly enforced, critics have announced new legislation to strip away labor and environmental protections. Stimulus measures allow certain development projects to proceed without environmental assessments or the advice of indigenous peoples. The burning of Indonesia’s rainforests and peatlands is a major source of global carbon emissions, making way for most of the palm-oil plantations.
The law would eliminate the minimum wage requirement and mandatory days for workers. It also allows businesses to replace full-time employees with cheaper contract workers. The Indonesian government says it will create about 1 million new jobs a year.
Secretary-General of the Indonesian Trade Union Confederation, Iqbal, said on Tuesday that the content of the law, especially in relation to the employment department, is almost entirely harmless to workers.
Mr Joko, who rose to power in 2014 as a technocrat controlled by Indonesia’s most corrupt politics, has sold a new law needed to make the world’s fourth most populous country a better place to do business. He won re-election last year for a second and final term, backed by a group of alligators pushing for trade reform.
Hundreds of thousands of Indonesians joined a three-day nationwide strike after a provocation bill was passed by parliament in early October, which, at the time, turned violent. Mr Said, a member of the trade union, said the strike would continue.
Their union union filed a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday morning, arguing that the new law violates workers’ constitutional rights. A successful judicial review could lead to the repeal of the law, but legal scholars said the likelihood of such an outcome was slim.
On Tuesday, investors and academics were left to scan the brand new law – which changes dozens of existing labor, business and tax rules – trying to figure out exactly what is in it. Incorrect paragraph references make it difficult to clarify. The provisions on who regulates Indonesia’s oil and gas reserves were completely removed.
Five draft versions of the law have been circulating around Jakarta for weeks. Mr Joko said Monday night, a day before the bill was due to be signed into law, and many labor activists and environmentalists were asleep, it was the sixth repeat.
“This draft, even after he signed it, is flawed because they were rushing it,” said Mrs. Bevitri of the Gentera School of Law. “These are the ones who have expressed outrage in public because we are going to be greatly affected by this law but they do not take the process seriously.”
