HOUSE SPEAKER APOLOGIZES FOR PROTOCOL OVERSIGHT

Jakarta, Aug 14 (ANTARA) - House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono apologized to the Indonesian public for the fact that the legislature's plenary session to mark Independence Day on Friday was not opened with the national anthem "Indonesia Raya".

"There was an oversight earlier today, we failed to begin our session with the singing of Indonesia Raya. We apologize," Laksono said in his closing remarks after chairing the meeting where President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered an address on the occasion of Independence Day on August 17.

After declaring the meeting closed, Laksono asked the audience to rise to sing the national anthem led by the Gita Bahana Nusantara choir.

The House plenary session was opened by Laksono at 09:00 am, but in a departure from a long-standing protocol rule, and in the presence of the president and vice president, the traditional singing of Indonesia Raya was skipped.

A few House members later interrupted the proceedings to protest the oversight. The House speaker then admitted the mistake and offered his apology.

At a press conference following the meeting, DPR Secretary General Nining Indra Saleh also admitted a protocol glitch had happened at the meeting. As the party responsible for the technical preparations of House meetings, he should also like to apologize to the public, he said.
Under the House's protocol rules, House plenary sessions on important occasions attended by the president and vice president must be opened and closed with the singing of the national anthem. The exact moments for the exercise were immediately after the two leaders had arrived in the hall, and when they were about to leave the scene.
Reporters had also noticed that Friday's House plenary session was marked by many empty legislators' seats. Only 395 out of the House's 550 members were in attendance when the meeting was opened.