President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi), is boarding the plane to Central Kalimantan, while the flood of protesters is running to the Merdeka Palace. (Image via CNN Indonesia)

Jokowi silent on omnibus law on job creation rejection

Since the ratification of the omnibus law on job creation by Indonesia's House of Representative (DPR) on Monday, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has not given any comments about it. The omnibus law rejection movement, dominated by workers, university to even high-school students, has been looming large since Tuesday in various cities in Indonesia such as Bandung, Lampung, Surabaya, Bekasi, and Banten, demanding the Indonesian government to revoke the ratification of the job creation law condemning it as putting workers' lives at risk. The clash between the protesters and police led to several injuries and arrests.

The protesters cried out that the government is not preserving the lives of its people by ratifying the omnibus law. For them, it is easier for the government to hammer the mallet that destroyed millions of lives of workers and employees. Gathering force, the workers and students are protesting at Merdeka Palace and DPR building in Jakarta on Thursday. Should the president remain silent, the Congress Alliance of Indonesian Labor Unions (KASBI) planned to propose judicial review to the Constitutional Court (MK) to reject controversial policies in the omnibus law.

Officials are asking Jokowi to take action regarding the omnibus law as it might divide the nation as the rejection movement is growing, at least declaring a statement or calming its people. Should Jokowi still turn a blind eye on the movement, they are afraid that more protests will take place in the future.

JOKOWI'S AGENDA UNTIL THURSDAY

Yet, still, Jokowi remains clammed up. When DPR ratified the bill on Monday through a plenary session, Jokowi was attending the 75th anniversary of the Indonesian National Armed Forces and a closed meeting on the acceleration of salt absorption at the Merdeka Palace. On Tuesday, the president attended another closed meeting on the corporation of farmers and fishermen in economic transformation at Bogor Palace. Not once did he mention anything about the omnibus law.

On Wednesday, the President held an internal meeting at Bogor Palace and flew back to Solo to pay a visit to his mother's grave. Then, Jokowi visited Yogyakarta. Still, no statement on the omnibus law. Thursday morning, Jokowi arrived at Adi Sutjipto Airport and went straight to Central Kalimantan to monitor the food estate. Regarding the allegation that Jokowi tried to escape the protests, Presidential Secretariat deputy head of protocol, press, and media, Bey Triadi Machmudin, said that the visit was already scheduled before the omnibus law.

Source: https://bit.ly/2I7KbqS