House Speaker Dr. (H.C.) Puan Maharani will preside over a Plenary Session on Monday (30/3/2020) afternoon to commence the Third Sitting Period of the 2019-2020 Session Year. She said the Plenary Session is needed to be held so that the House can resume its oversight, budgeting, and legislation functions, especially considering the current emergency outbreak of Covid-19. She also revealed that during the emergency period, the House will fully focus on the efforts to overcome the coronavirus outbreak. The Plenary Session is a must to be held, otherwise the House will still be in the recess period and not be able to fully perform its functions.

She went on saying that the House, besides its efforts to handle the coronavirus outbreak, will also seek a formulation to assist the government in handling the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, particularly the socio-economic impacts. “For example, the State Budget design is no longer in accordance with the assumptions underpinning 2020 budget. It therefore needs to be adjusted and revised in terms of its revenue, expenditure, and financing to focus on handling of coronavirus outbreak and overcoming the social and economic impact,” she told Parlementaria in a press statement on Monday.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Politician stressed that the Indonesian House would support the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic through its budgetary, legislative, and supervisory functions to safeguard public health and income. ”The Plenary Session has its own mechanism based own the House’s Rules of Procedures. For example, a quorum shall be reached should there be a physical attendance of three Leaders and more than half of the Members of the House.” Maharani added.

However, in complying with the Covid-19 pandemic prevention protocol, the Plenary Session will apply physical distancing. The adjustment is made by limiting the physical attendance of Plenary Session participants. The Plenary Session will only be attended by three House Leaders, nine Faction’s Chairs, and all Chairs of the House’s Complementary Organs. The rest of the Members can attend the meeting virtually using the teleconference facility. "The meeting will take place quickly, there is no decision making, and we will only open the Session Period III," Maharani said.

The legislator from Central Java V constituency further explained that, apart from minimizing physical attendance, the Plenary Session will also apply strict emergency protocols to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. These measures include, among others, single-access entrance to the meeting room. Therefore, the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture highlighted the importance of following the procedures of screening body temperatures, spraying disinfectant, and applying hand sanitizer prior to entering the room.

“Safe distance in the seating arrangement is also applied in the meeting room. That is why the Session is held at Nusantara Building, which has a larger capacity. No one is permitted to enter the Nusantara Building area but participants of the Session. For broadcasting purposes, the Plenary Session is also organized by considering the Covid-19 emergency protocol. TV pool will be available for electronic media. The Indonesian House correspondents can watch the Plenary Session through Live Streaming provided by the Indonesian House Broadcasting Bureau,” Maharani concluded. (pun/sf)