Ministry Of Religion Will Decide The Fate Of Hajj After Facing Jokowi

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Religion will take a stand and immediately decide the fate of the 2021 Hajj pilgrimage after meeting President Joko Widodo. The meeting will be held on Wednesday this week.

"At first I wanted (to appear before the president) tomorrow but it turns out it's a holiday, until Wednesday I will communicate to the president and we will make a decision whether we wait or we decide for ourselves," said Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas during a working meeting with Commission VIII DPR, quoted as saying Between, Monday, May 31.

The Minister of Religion said the government could no longer wait for the certainty of the implementation of the pilgrimage from the Saudi Arabian government. Because until now the Saudi Arabian authorities have not provided official information about the hajj.

According to the Minister of Religion, the government will soon make a decision either with or without an announcement from the Saudi Arabian government. Because the preparation for the implementation of the Hajj has passed the deadline.

"We can't stand idly by, we have to make a decision about this pilgrimage. We have to make this decision with or without an announcement from the Saudi Arabian government," Yaqut continued.

Based on the scenario for calculating hajj departures with a certain quota, the deadline has passed. The Minister of Religion gave an example if the hajj quota is given 30 percent or 60,996 people, then the maximum deadline for determining the quota must be 11 May and 27 June 2021 departure.

If the quota is 25 percent, the quota should have been confirmed on May 14. The quota is 20 percent on May 17, and 10 percent on May 25.

"Based on the simulations that we have carried out, if only five percent of the pilgrims departed, then we should have obtained the certainty of the quota on May 25, 2021, it has already passed. In fact, if only 1.8 percent of the pilgrims departed, the certainty of the quota on May 28, had already passed," said Yaqut.

The Minister of Religion also conveyed that the remaining time until the closing date of airports in Saudi Arabia is only less than 50 days or about 1.5 months. According to the Minister of Religion, this has an impact on the preparation of Hajj services in Indonesia.

"I ask for permission for a moment (to face) with the president in case there is an extraordinary decision. I will tell you what the situation is, how we have prepared it, I ask for time to convey it to the president," said Yaqut.

Yaqut's move received support from the Deputy Chairman of Commission VIII TB Ace Hasan Syadzili who encouraged the government to immediately take a decision.

"We should immediately take a decision and what must be our top priority is the safety of Indonesian citizens," he said.

This Golkar politician sees that the Indonesian government will find it difficult to ensure the implementation of the haj pilgrimage because it is fully under the authority of Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, he appreciated the scenario preparation and implementation mitigation carried out by the Ministry of Religion.

"We give the opportunity to Gus Minister to report to the President. Because the highest authority in our country is in the President. And later after receiving directions from the President, we will sit back together with Commission VIII," he said.