Jakarta, IO – On December 30, 2022, President Joko Widodo issued Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 2 of 2022 (Perppu 2/2022) regarding Job Creation. This stirred up public controversy since the Constitutional Court, in Decision No. 109/PUU-XVIII/2020, instructed the legislators (the House of Representatives and the President) to amend the Job Creation Law within two years from the time the decision was announced by the MK.
Instead, the House of Representatives and the Government are preparing to amend Job Creation Law No. 11 of 2020, by including it in the list of priority National Legislation Programs (Prolegnas) for 2023. The Job Creation Law, however, is not included in the list of law-making discussions in the House, despite the fact that the House and the President have less than a year left since the Constitutional Court decision was announced on November 25, 2021.
Despite being ensnarled in controversy, Perppu 2/2022 has been in effect and is legally binding. Nevertheless, a substantial issue remains in the Court’s decision: meaningful participation from the public in the Job Creation Law material.
Hence, solutions need to be formulated to unravel the morass from the enactment and constitutional consequences of Perppu 2/2022, so that the Job Creation Perppu can return to the corridors of the rule of law in a democratic country.
Constitutional Space
The main issue in the legislation of the Job Creation Law, from the planning, discussion and confirmation to the issuance of Perppu 2/2022 on Job Creation, is the lack of public participation, which the Constitutional Court also emphasized in its decision of November 25, 2021.
Several constitutional options are available to resolve the tangles of Perppu 2/2022: a formal review and judicial review at the Constitutional Court, repudiation of the Job Creation Perppu by the House of Representatives and approval to ratify the Perppu into Law by the House of Representatives. The proposition for the President to revoke the Perppu, however, has no constitutional precedent.