Assembly workers kick back, relax after session
Assembly workers kick back, relax after session
JAKARTA (JP): Words were not enough to describe how many of
the exhausted attendants and secretariat staff of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) felt as Assembly speaker Amien Rais
banged the gavel to close the plenary session.
"Tired," sighed Syaefudin, 43, as he slumped in his chair.
Others yawned in response to the question of how they felt.
Some mustered the energy to utter "You know the answer".
Syaefudin's vocal chords were given a particular workout
during the session, but he played a historic role.
"I read out the lists of names and the ballot results, taking
turns with other officials," Syaefudin said.
"Even as we were reading out the ballots one by one, we could
feel our hearts pounding in anticipation of the final count."
This year's General Session was far more alive and
unpredictable than previous ones. Syaefudin remarked that he was
proud to be part of the dawning of a new atmosphere in the office
in which he has worked for 15 years.
A total of 216 people work for the Assembly secretariat
serving the 695 Assembly members.
They tirelessly toiled behind the scenes for the past three
weeks to ensure the smooth running of the country's most
democratic Assembly session in over three decades.
They doubled their workload and put in long hours.
Apart from the electronic voting devices in the plenary hall,
which ultimately were not used, there were no additional
purchases, such as photocopy machines and computers, to lighten
the burden of the staff.
The greater plurality of interests among the more diversified
Assembly membership put more demands on the personnel.
"We formerly had only five factions in the MPR, now we have
11, and all of them held separate intensive meetings during the
session," said Heri Herawan from the personnel unit of the
Assembly's secretariat.
At least 10 officials would be on hand during a faction
meeting to take notes, procure materials and duplicate documents.
Through it all, including sessions dragging on well past
midnight and resuming promptly the next day at 9 a.m., the
secretariat staff received no special treatment.
Assembly members were excused if they arrived late, or even
skipped sessions, but it was not allowed for the Assembly
employees.
With an almost round-the-clock workload, many workers were
forced to "camp out" in the secretariat office if they had early
morning assignments the following day.
The secretariat said there were no special allowances or
accommodation for the staff.
One small perk was their free packed lunches and dinners.
Vacations and leave for the month of October were also
forbidden, except for those on maternity leave.
In anticipation of the greater demands, the secretariat
established an internship program for students interested in
helping out during the Assembly.
"We had 30 additional staff from high school students and
university students who applied a few months before the session
opened," Heri said. (emf)