Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo sees the Job Creation Law as a necessary risk despite widespread public rejection of the law, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said on Saturday.
Moeldoko said the government had the people's best interests in mind by aiming to create more employment opportunities through the implementation of the newly passed jobs law.
Furthermore, he claimed President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo was unafraid of making bold decisions if it meant that Indonesia could be better-equipped to compete against other countries for economic prowess, particularly in regard to the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) index.
"President Jokowi chose to be unafraid in taking risks and take steep and uphill paths," Moeldoko said as quoted by kompas.com.
He said that those opposed to the jobs law simply lacked understanding of its core tenets, claiming that the legislation product was intended as a catalyst for a streamlined bureaucracy to entice future investments and improve national economic growth.
Moeldoko said that 80 percent of the country's workforce had a low level of education, further necessitating a law that cuts through red tape to allow for more job opportunities.
"We need to streamline and synchronize what I call 'hyper-regulation' that has hindered the creation of employment opportunities," he said
Critics of the jobs law have accused the government and the House of Representives of sidestepping public concerns and rushing the process to pass the legislation.
The President brushed off criticism against the jobs law as "disinformation and hoaxes spread through social media", adding that "relevant parties" were welcome to challenge the law by submitting a request for judicial review with the Constitutional Court. (rfa)