Behind the Palace Walls

LUHUT Binsar Pandjaitan did not join President Joko Widodo's retinue traveling to the United States this week. As ordered by President, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs stayed behind to deal with the critical issue of dense smoke and haze that had been troubling residents of large parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan for months.

Haze was the main topic of the five-hour, closed-door meeting in the President's office in Central Jakarta on Wednesday last week. During this meeting, Luhut said, the President told him to focus on a disaster that is affecting millions. "So I didn't join the President's entourage," said Luhut that night.