Palace door closed to legislators

JAKARTA: Under the new president, the State Palace has apparently introduced stricter rules on punctuality, which on Thursday resulted in six House of Representatives being denied admission to the inauguration ceremony for new Cabinet members.

Guards refused the lawmakers, including Agus Kartasasmita from the Golkar Party, admission to the State Palace, where the ceremony was taking place, as they had arrived a few minutes late.

Undaunted, some of the legislators tried to sneak around to get in through the backdoor of the Palace, but to no avail. "Sir, excuse me, you'll have to stay here," one of the presidential guards told them sternly.

The hapless lawmakers had no choice but to hang around at the front door of the Palace until the ceremony was over. --JP