Puan Maharani Assures MPs Will Be More Solemn at Joint Session: We Will Introspect

House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Puan Maharani has assured that members of parliament will be more mindful of their conduct during this year’s MPR Annual Session and DPR-DPD Joint Session. Puan stated that the institution would engage in introspection.

“God willing, on the day itself, we will all certainly introspect more, be more solemn, and be better able to control ourselves so we can focus more on following the state event,” Puan said at the DPR building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (12 September 2026).

“However, of course, there are moments for expressing oneself, and expressing that this is independence day is certainly allowed, because we also feel happy that Indonesia, alhamdulillah, has been independent for 81 years,” she continued.

Puan explained that the dancing during last year’s Annual Session and Joint Session occurred spontaneously. According to her, it was a form of joy in welcoming independence.

“In welcoming independence day, we should be able to welcome it with joy. At that time, it was actually spontaneous because we genuinely felt happy,” she said.

She noted that at the time, members of parliament also followed the proceedings solemnly when President Prabowo Subianto delivered his speech. However, after the speech was delivered and music was played, the members spontaneously began to sway.

“It was only when listening to the music after the speech had finished, and that was because it was spontaneous. So there was nothing that made us seem disrespectful or dishonouring an event that should be conducted solemnly or formally, because the formal event had actually concluded,” she stated.

Previously, the Head of the Protocol, Public Relations, and Media Bureau of the DPD RI Secretariat General, Mahyu Darma, said that his party had evaluated the issue of the music during the MPR Annual Session and DPR-DPD Joint Session. He stated that corrections were being made to the event’s execution.

“We have evaluated it, and perhaps we will not play that kind of music again. Actually, it wasn’t intentional, it was just the nature of the song,” he said at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday (12 August).

“But we also realise, and we are continuously evaluating, because ultimately all of this is the work of the institutions for the people,” he continued.