Statement of Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for Economic Justice

 Jakarta, April 2nd 2020

The Civil Society Coalition for Economic Justice (MKE Coalition) strongly condemns the evil intentions of the Government and the Parliament of Indonesia that have  made the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak as a loophole to discuss regulations that were widely rejected by the public.

Among them are the Omnibus Law, Job Creation, Taxation and the Capital City. Because, until the last session of Parliament on Monday, March 30th, 2020 the Parliament still insists on establishing the omnibus law and capital city discussions to continue. It appears that they don’t have empathy and humanity, in the midst of this crisis the Parliament and the Government still persist to prioritize  the  interests  of  investors  rather  than the  lives  of  Indonesian  citizens  whose numbers continue to rise due to Covid-19.

Such conditions are reiterated in the policy recommendations issued by Bapennas (National Development Planning Agency) regarding economic policy amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Stated therein, it will accelerate the discussion and  completion of the omnibus law as a solution to attract investment in the second half of 2020. This policy is not effective and full of errors, what was  needed  now is  the presence of  the government in protecting the citizens  of Indonesia amid the threats of Covid-19, not to protect the interests of investors behind the acceleration frame of the omnibus law completion.

The Covid-19 pandemic outbreak should be a turning point not to return to the trade policy of “business as usual”, and dependence on private investment must be corrected, particularly those related to health, food, and basic public services. Several countries that acted quickly to nationalize hospitals immediately and put food management in the hands of the public rather than private, show that, there is something wrong with the pre-pandemic economic and trade policies. Countries that have lost food production capacity will be severely hit because they are highly dependent on export and  import, while in this  kind of  quarantine situation it becomes increasingly limited.

The completion of the Omnibus Law discussion amid the global economic turmoil due to the Covid-19 pandemic also does not guarantee the ability to attract investment to drive the industrial sector. This is because there are no investors who are willing to invest their capital amid  a very high financial risk. If Jokowi’s expectation is that by approving the Omnibus Law in the near future will be able to increase the value of trade to save the balance of payments deficit,  then  there is actually no  guarantee that exports  will also  increase, given that the global production supply chain is also stalled. Global trade is not in a normal conditions. The crisis of capitalism is already permanent. Today’s condition cannot be answered with the same economic system, but rather the people’s economic strength is the right solution.

Therefore, the discussion of the Omnibus Law amid to Covid-19 pandemic outbreak only further shows that the Government and the Parliament are not sensitive to people’s lives, and shows that this country has an acute humanitarian crisis.

On that note, we demand that the Government and the Parliament  stop discussing the Omnibus Law Bill and focus on handling the Covid-19 crisis problem in a structured manner by issuing effective and targeted policies on health issues. Protection of human life must take precedence over other interests. In fact, Rp. 466 Trillion budget should be used for the Capital city transfer, was diverted to handling Covid-19. As of April 1st, 2020, there have been 1,677 people who have tested positive in Indonesia and 157 people have died from Covid-19.

Civil Society Coalition for Economic Justice: 

Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ), Women Solidarity, the people’s coalition for justice in fishery (KIARA), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), Indonesian Peasant Union, Coalition for the Right to Water (KRuHA), Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI), People’s Struggle Association (KPR), Indonesia Aids Coalition (IAC), Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS).

 Contact person:

Susan Herawati, KIARA – +62 821-1172-7050.

Arieska Kurniawaty, Solidaritas Perempuan – +62 812-8056-4651.

Rahmat Maulana Sidik, Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ) – +62 812 8048 0561.

Herman Abdulrohman, KPR – 0822 1342 6109.

Posted by

Rachmi Hertanti
Executive Director
Indonesia for Global Justice
www.igj.or.id