House of Representatives Reflects about Democracy on Its 81st Anniversary

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia's House of Representatives (DPR) commemorated its 81st anniversary with a Special Plenary Session at the Indonesian Parliament Complex in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. The House's Speaker Puan Maharani, who chaired the session, reaffirmed the parliament’s commitment to continuously improving its performance in carrying out the sovereignty of the people.

At the plenary session, Puan delivered the House's Performance Report for the 2025–2026 Session Year and a speech commemorating the anniversary. All under the theme "DPR with Impact: Realizing People’s Sovereignty through a Modern, Democratic, and Responsive Parliament".

"Since the beginning of independence, the nation’s founders made a clear choice: Indonesia was to be built as a state based on people’s sovereignty and the rule of law," Puan said at the beginning of her speech.

"Sovereignty does not rest on the will of an individual or on power alone, but on the people," Puan, the first woman to serve as the House Speaker, said.

According to the Speaker, Indonesia’s concept of democracy, as envisioned by the nation’s founders, was not a democracy that merely imitated concepts from abroad. She said Indonesian democracy must grow from the character of the nation itself, rooted in the spirit of togetherness, deliberation, mutual cooperation, and the ideals of social justice.

Puan said 2026 marks a long journey for the DPR RI as the country’s representative institution, which has now reached the age of 81. For her, the figure is not merely a statistic or simply a marker of the passage of time.

"Eighty-one years represents a span of time filled with struggle, a space in which this nation has evolved and engaged in dialogue over how people’s sovereignty can be realized in the life of the nation and state," Puan, the grandchild of the country's first President Sukarno, explained.

Puan stressed that people’s sovereignty must be reflected in the daily lives of citizens. This means that people’s voices must be heard, their aspirations championed, their rights protected, and their welfare made a central goal of state administration.

She acknowledged that in an era of open information and digital technology, expectations for the DPR’s performance have become increasingly tangible. Aspirations can be conveyed within seconds, policies can be monitored more openly, and the public has increasingly broad opportunities to participate in public discourse.

Therefore, Puan said, democracy is not only about the right to speak but also the willingness to listen. Democracy is also not merely about maintaining differences, but about the ability to manage those differences and turn them into decisions that serve the common interest.

"Therefore, every law that is enacted, every rupiah of the state budget that is approved, and every government policy that is overseen must share the same objective: to ensure that the people’s interests and welfare are given priority," she said.

Puan called on all lawmakers and every element within the House to work even better to ensure the welfare of all Indonesians. She also urged them to remain self-reflective and work together to make the DPR an institution that brings about real change in people’s lives.

“The 81 years of the DPR are not about how far the DPR has traveled, but about how close our journey has been to the people,” the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs said.