August 3, 2026 | 09:07 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has extended invitations to all former presidents and vice presidents to attend the MPR's annual session. MPR Speaker Ahmad Muzani stated that political party leaders will also be invited to the state forum.
"We are inviting all former presidents and vice presidents, including the general chairpersons of political parties," Muzani told reporters at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Monday, August 3, 2026.
Muzani noted that the MPR leadership has also officially delivered an invitation to President Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo is scheduled to deliver the annual state address during the session.
The MPR annual session is a key event held ahead of the nationwide commemoration of Indonesia's August 17 Proclamation of Independence. This year, according to Muzani, the assembly will convene on Friday, August 14, 2026, marking the final working day before the 81st Indonesian Independence Day celebrations.
In 2025, President Prabowo delivered two state addresses during the MPR annual session and the joint session of the House of Representatives (DPR) and Regional Representative Council (DPD) at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on August 15, 2025. Prabowo's initial address outlined the government's performance over the preceding year. His second address presented the draft 2026 State Budget (APBN).
Prabowo highlighted several points during his addresses. Among them was the touted success of the free nutritious meal (MBG) program, which had been rolled out in January 2025. He claimed the MBG program had successfully generated hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
Last year, impromptu dancing by members of the House of Representatives (DPR) during the joint session drew widespread public attention. Hundreds of Senayan lawmakers were seen dancing to the regional tunes Sajojo and Fa Mi Re during the closing segment of the proceedings.
Many netizens expressed outrage over the display, deeming it tone-deaf given the prevailing economic climate. Critics argued that while ordinary citizens were struggling under economic hardship, DPR members were enjoying lavish privileges and salary increases.
MPR Speaker Ahmad Muzani later addressed the public backlash. He defended the lawmakers' dancing, characterizing it as a lighthearted attempt to ease the atmosphere.
"The music was played to lighten the mood, as is customary at informal events," Muzani said at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.
The lawmakers' dancing during the closing of the annual session added to a broader wave of public discontent that culminated in major demonstrations in late August 2025. Those protests, which spanned nationwide rallies, the tragic death of online ojek driver Affan Kurniawan after being struck by a police vehicle, and the ransacking of officials' residences, marked the largest political unrest of the Reform era.
Novali Panji Nugroho and Ervana Trikarinaputri contributed to this report.
Read: Palace to Open 'Ticket War' for 81st Independence Day
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