Activists Demand that the PPRT Bill Not Be Delayed: Prabowo Promises Three Months, It Has Been Almost a Year
JAKARTA — Lita Anggraini, coordinator of the National Network for the Advocacy of Domestic Workers (JALA PRT), has called for the rapid resolution of the Rancangan Undang-Undang Perlindungan Pekerja Rumah Tangga (RUU PPRT), given that President Prabowo has pledged to complete it within three months.
‘So it won’t drag on any longer because his promise was three months; it’s been almost a year since that promise. This is a form of the state’s presence for protecting domestic workers,’ Lita told reporters at the DPR RI Building on Thursday, 5 March 2026.
According to Lita, passage of the bill is urgently needed because domestic workers remain vulnerable to violence and discrimination.
‘Proceed as quickly as possible, given the urgency to prevent violence and discrimination against domestic workers. And it has been awaited for 22 years,’ she said.
She noted that domestic workers play a vital role in sustaining community life.
‘Without domestic workers, Indonesia would be paralysed,’ Lita said.
She also encouraged the RUU PPRT discussions to move quickly into the decision-making stage, so that it could be adopted as a DPR inisiatif (initiative) bill and discussed with the government.
‘If there are no more RDP sessions, go straight to plenary for the articles and move into the initiative. We hope the DPR leadership, the Speaker of the DPR, will approve it as a DPR-initiative Bill, to be discussed with the government, and for the ’R’ to disappear and become Law,’ she said.
Lita added that after becoming a DPR-initiative bill, the government is expected to promptly send the presidential letter (surpres) and the list of issues (DIM) so that the first reading can begin.
‘So initiative, surpres, and DIM from the government, then the first reading discussion, and soon it will be enacted as a law,’ she concluded.
The private nature of domestic work means government oversight is limited, leaving room for discrimination, exploitation, and violence.
Since 2004, the PPRT Bill has consistently appeared in the National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas) in every DPR term, but has yet to be enacted by the end of the 2019-2024 DPR term.
President Prabowo has previously stated his commitment to pushing through the bill.
On International Workers’ Day at Monas, Jakarta, on 1 May 2025, Prabowo said discussion of the PPRT Bill would soon begin in the DPR.
‘We will soon push through the Protection of Domestic Workers Bill. The Deputy Speaker of the DPR present, Mr Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, reported to me that next week this Bill will soon start being debated,’ Prabowo said at the time.
‘Most likely it will be completed within no more than three months,’ Prabowo said then.