Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has conveyed his disappointment over the bad press surrounding the Job Creation Law, blaming his Cabinet members for poor public relations regarding the controversial legislation product.
Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said Jokowi considered lackluster public communication on the government's part to be the major cause of widespread opposition to the jobs law in recent weeks.
"We were all scolded by the President, our public communication was indeed very poor," Moeldoko said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.
Every Cabinet member has committed to rectifying their approach to public communication, particularly in regard to the omnibus law on job creation to minimize misunderstanding, according to him.
"We will immediately reflect on [our errors] for future improvement," Moeldoko said, adding that the government had been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of "disinformation" on social media regarding the jobs law.
The jobs law was passed on Oct. 5 despite strong opposition, triggering waves of mass protests, some of which turned violent, in several regions across the country over the past couple of weeks.
Jokowi previously claimed that criticism of the law was merely based on "disinformation and hoaxes spread through social media".
The President's statement drew the ire of jobs law critics and protesters as they maintained that the public had been denied access to the final draft of the legislation. (rfa)