DPD Member Links Job Creation Perppu to Jokowi's Impeachment

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Member of the Central Sulawesi Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Abdul Rachman Thaha on Tuesday said the issuance of the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on Job Creation (Cipta Kerja) can lead to the impeachment of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. 

He argued that the regulation in lieu of law on Job Creation was formulated by ignoring the precautionary principle, objective interests, public involvement, and responsible rationalization of the Constitutional Court (MK) verdict.

Back on November 25, 2021, the Constitutional Court deemed Law No.11/2020 on Job Creation conditionally unconstitutional under the MK verdict No 91/PUU-XVIII/2020. The MK court also urged the government to fix the Job Creation law within a maximum of 2 years. 

"With the conditions for impeachment, if there is a constitutional violation, of course, impeachment can be executed," Abdul told Tempo, Monday, January 2.

Impeachment against the President is contained under the 1945 Constitution articles 7A-7C. This rule states that the President and Vice President can be dismissed by the MPR on the recommendation of the House of Representatives (DPR) if they are proven to have violated the law in the form of treason against the state, corruption, bribery, other serious crimes, or disgraceful acts or if they are proven to no longer fulfill the requirements as President and/or Vice President.

According to Abdul, the issuance of the Job Creation Perppu shows actual signs of authoritarianism in legislation packaging. He also believes the issuance of this law to be an act of recklessness and endangers Indonesia’s legal environment, which signals legislation and democratic crises.

According to him, House legislators should immediately end their recess period to review the impeachment of the President. However, Abdul doubts if the DPR has enough courage to impeach the President considering the abundance of the government coalition within the House.

On the other hand, Abdul lamented that the authority of the DPD has been deliberately weakened. He, himself would initiate such an impeachment if the DPD had more authority, Abdul asserted.

"If the DPD had more authority, believe me, I, Abdul Rachman Thaha, would take the impeachment initiative," he said.

Due to this reason, Abdul advises all DPD leaders to pay a visit to the President’s Palace to warn the President about the bad precedent from the issuance of the Job Creation Perppu.

"The president must carry out the Constitutional Court's decision in substantive and responsible steps," he said.

Jokowi previously responded to various criticisms of the issuance of the Perppu on Job Creation. He emphasized that this government regulation in lieu of law was issued due to the risks of global uncertainty.

"[The Perppu issuance] to provide legal certainty, the legal vacuum that is in the perception of internal and external investors. That is actually the most important thing," Jokowi said.

For the umpteenth time, the President mentioned that 14 countries have become patients of the IMF, and 28 more countries lining up to become IMF patients. "In fact, the world is not doing well," Jokowi asserted.

This fear of global financial uncertainty is what later became Jokowi's reason for issuing the Job Creation Perppu. "Because our economy in 2023 is highly dependent on investment and exports," he said.

IMA DINI SHAFIRA 

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