Omnibus Law; Senior Economist Warns of Jokowi's Overconfidence

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - University of Indonesia’s senior economist Faisal Basri reminded President Jokowi to avert from being overconfident in passing the Omnibus Law despite 74 percent backing from House legislators, including opposition’s Gerindra Party. 

Faisal warns about the impact of such passing will be felt in the future after it is officially passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) in January 2020. 

“Danger looms and poses a challenge once a regime is overconfident,” said the senior economist at Hotel Millenium in Jakarta on Wednesday. 

Faisal deems the passing will be questionable as the Omnibus Law, in his views, precisely talks about the interests of business owners such as the minimum wage of workers and barriers in employment. 

“I would just like to send the government a message; don’t let the Omnibus Law seem to be fulfilling the business sector’s requests involving workforce costs. Pak Jokowi can tumble,” he said. 

He also slammed the process of creating the Omnibus Law, which he deemed was made in the dark and in a rush without any academic studies to test the law. Faisal deemed the law Jokowi pitched only keeps in mind the accessibility of businesses and lacks rules regarding the preservation of the environment. 

‘It is really dangerous, not one interest of labors are represented in the law’s creation. The meeting also revealed the Omnibus Law failed to represent the interests of other regions,” said Faisal Basri. 

EKO WAHYUDI