JAKARTA. National Coordinator of Publish What You Pay Indonesia, Maryati Abdullah, became the guest speaker in a discussion entitled “Unconstitutional Articles of the Cipta Kerja Bill” organized by KoDe Inisiatif on Thursday, March 5, 2020. In the discussion, three other speakers were also present, namely, Rahmah Mutiara as a KoDe Inisiatif researcher, Charles Sinabura as a PUSaKO researcher on Law Faculty of Andalas University, and Ikhsan Raharjo as Secretary-general of SINDIKASI. This discussion was talking about the Cipta Kerja Bill which is considered contains articles that potentially defy the constitution.

The discussion began with a presentation by the KoDe Inisiatif researcher, Rahmah Mutiara, who explained that there were 31 unconstitutional chapters in the draft omnibus law Cipta Kerja Bill that potentially contrary to the constitution because it has been declared ‘unconstitutional’. Furthermore, Rahmah considered that these problem indicated that the government did not respect to the decision of Constitutional Court (MK). This form of disobedience is divided into three types. First, the decision of the Constitutional Court was not followed up, which in this case, the norms that had been overturned by the Constitutional Court cannot be accommodated in the Cipta Kerja Bill. Second, the follow-up of the Constitutional Court’s partial decision which can be accommodated in the Cipta Kerja Bill. And third, the emergence of ‘zombie’ articles in which articles that have been annulled by the Constitutional Court were revived by the government in the Cipta Kerja Bill. Related to this, Ikhsan Raharjo additionally said that the Cipta Kerja Bill could have a negative impact to the employment system, such as the vulnerability of young workers status, decreasing on worker’s buying power, the minimum wages which not calculated, and the obscurity of outsourcing systems that are vulnerable to marginalizing workers’ rights to guarantees social.

Regarding to the energy, oil and gas, mining and natural resource management sectors, Maryati Abdullah as the National Coordinator of PWYP Indonesia explained that the Cipta Kerja Bill will also affect the management of natural resources, especially at the level of regional governments that no longer have economic discretion in managing the potential of their regions. Recentralize policy in allowing licenses on natural resources management will reduce the responsibility of the regional economy, particularly the supervision during its process. Moreover, Maryati reminds that “the omnibus law were designed to provide legal certainty, actually would have the opposite effect which marked by many supporting regulation will be made through Government Regulation (PP).”

Meanwhile, Charles Simabura added that the Cipta Kerja Bill was only good at the consideration level, but its contents contained an economic-centric principles rather than welfare-centric. In this case, the government tends to look at the short-term investment beside the long-term prospect. (RL/AA)