Saru Arifin – Illiberal tendencies in Indonesian legislation: the case of the omnibus law on job creation

Abstract

For the first time in the country’s legislative history, the Indonesian Parliament passed an omnibus law on job creation. By incorporating multiple statutory provisions from different types of law into a single Act, the omnibus law heralded a new age of Indonesian legislation. The legislation model of the omnibus bill, on the other hand, has been heavily criticised, with venues including marches, demonstrations, social media messages, and academic discussion forums. The government’s new omnibus bill format for the Job Creation Law, according to this article, endangers Indonesia’s parliamentary democracy by tilting it toward illiberalism. In illiberal democracies, public engagement is often ignored. Parliament does not have enough time to discuss the substance of Articles because they are lengthy and time-limited. An omnibus legislation, on the other hand, takes longer to complete due to the increased number of content rules. Consequently, rather than satisfying public expectations, the government’s policy has been distilled into the omnibus bill plan. Meanwhile, the omnibus bill has thrust society to the forefront of the legislative agenda. To be completely frank, the efficacy and effectiveness with which legislative laws convey people’s desires dictates the quality of legislation. As a result, this article proposes amending the legislation governing legal development by introducing an omnibus law model appropriate for Indonesia’s legal democracy.