Annual Session or MPR fair?

JAKARTA: Numerous booths temporarily set up in the lobby of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) building have turned the legislative complex into something resembling a fairground.

The noise from transactions carried out at the booths muffles the sounds coming from the plenary hall, where MPR members take turns in making themselves heard.

Various products, ranging from traditional herbs, books and handicrafts to microwave ovens, are on display in the lobby of the Assembly building.

"This event is more like a fair than an MPR Annual Session," said Erni Setyowati, the chief of the Parliamentary Watch division of the Center for the Study of Law and Policy (PSHK).

Erni, like other visitors to the Annual Session, did not miss out on the opportunity to enjoy a free drink offered by a traditional herb drink producer.

She was not the only person who said that the noisy business activities in the lobby had created a festive atmosphere usually associated with a fair.

A reporter with an online media, Martian Damanik, added that the commercial activities in the complex were just inappropriate.

Several vendors said they had paid Rp 2 million for a booth measuring nine square meters. Nearly 20 booths were set up in the MPR lobby. -- JP