Indonesian Lawmaker Urges Jakarta to Lead ASEAN Talks on Forest Fires

A regional agenda for fires and haze

Speaking to Kompas.com on October 23, 2026, Daniel, a member of Commission IV of Indonesia's House of Representatives, urged Jakarta to arrive with data, an agenda for evaluating the response and a roadmap for joint improvements. He said Indonesia should lead the discussions and help shape regional solutions.

Daniel said the cross-border effects of fires and haze make them a shared concern requiring support from neighboring countries. Summit talks, he argued, could improve coordination, preparedness and the exchange of experience to help prevent further fires that harm Indonesia and its neighbors.

The regional effects were evident in Malaysia earlier this month. According to The Star, Malaysia's environment department recorded unhealthy air pollution index readings in Kuala Lumpur, Johor and 12 other locations on October 11, 2026, representing about one-fifth of monitored areas. Johor announced that all schools and educational institutions would close for a week beginning October 12.

Cooperation without outside control

Daniel, a National Awakening Party (PKB) politician, said responsibility for managing fires inside Indonesia rests with its government, without foreign intervention. He supported international assistance provided it helps the response without imposing binding obligations.

"The ASEAN forum should be a platform for equal cooperation and mutual respect, not a tool to pressure or regulate our domestic policies," he told Kompas.com.

Malaysia first offered Indonesia three helicopters, an aircraft and 52 personnel in September 2026, The Star reported. President Prabowo Subianto welcomed the offer, but Malaysian spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said Kuala Lumpur had received no official response from Jakarta as of October 10.

Within Indonesia, around 60,000 joint personnel had been deployed as of October 12 to fight wildfires in six provinces prioritized for aerial firefighting and weather modification operations: South Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. The Star reported the deployment, citing The Jakarta Post/ANN.

Accountability for companies

Most of the burned land lies within corporate concessions, including those held by multinational companies based in Malaysia and Singapore, Kompas.com reported. Daniel said Indonesia could use the summit to press for shared responsibility, including consequences in their home countries for foreign companies whose land has burned, rather than leaving Indonesia alone to face blame.

The Star reported on October 12 that Greenpeace South-East Asia and Pantau Gambut had identified a Malaysian palm oil company and four Singaporean agriculture holdings operating in Indonesia as being among the 20 largest sources of regional haze. Their findings came amid calls for Jakarta to identify polluting companies publicly.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in September that Kuala Lumpur would not protect Malaysian companies found responsible for the fires, according to The Star.

An existing agreement with enforcement limits

Daniel cited the 2002 ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution (AATHP) and the ASEAN Charter as the framework for regional action. In his view, taking the issue to the summit would demonstrate Indonesia's leadership and diplomatic strength within agreements ASEAN members have already accepted.

Indonesia ratified the AATHP through Law No. 26 of 2014, which then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed on September 16, 2014, Kompas.com reported on October 22, 2026.

But Teuku Rezasyah, an international relations lecturer at President University, told Kompas.com on October 21 that ASEAN lacks legal instruments to enforce the agreement. He said it provides no sanctions for member states that fail to prevent fires and transboundary haze, describing it as "more of a paper tiger." He suggested that ASEAN consider revising its 2007 Charter.