Postponing Labor Issues, Is It A Political Compromise?

The government and the House of Representatives (DPR) agreed to postpone the discussion on labor issues in the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. President Joko Widodo said the postponement was necessary to give the government and the parliament a room to breathe and study the substance of the labor-related articles, amid the government’s attempts to mitigate Covid-19.

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, also had a similar sentiment. The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician said that she had asked the DPR’s Legislative Body to postpone the discussion of the labor-related issues. However, neither Jokowi nor Puan said they would cross the cluster out of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. Besides, the discussion may continue after the legislative process on ten other issues such as the ease of doing business and permit simplification are over.