Minister Of Religion Apologizes To DPR For Deciding To Cancel The Hajj Without A Work Meeting

JAKARTA - The Minister of Religion (Menag) Fachrul Razi admitted that he was wrong to not first hold a working meeting with Commission VIII DPR RI regarding the cancellation of the Haj this year. The decision to cancel the Hajj was taken because there was a deadline regarding the clarity of Hajj departure.

"So again, maybe it was the mistake at the Ministry of Religion, maybe because I didn't wait for a work meeting. But again, I have to take risks because I have to save the face of the government. Don't let the June 1 deadline and the June 2 deadline have not been announced," said Fachrul in a discussion that aired on the Zoom app, Tuesday, June 9.

He explained that actually a working meeting with the DPR to discuss this was scheduled for June 1. However, one head of Commission VIII DPR RI requested that the working meeting be held on 2 June.

"I said okay. Because June 2 is still logical. Deadline June 1, the work meeting on June 2 was announced at that time. We then agreed on June 2," he said.

After that, Fachrul received an official invitation from Commission VIII DPR RI to hold a work meeting on that date. However, suddenly there was an oral notification, the meeting was postponed to June 4.

Fachrul was disappointed with the postponement of this schedule. If we comply with the DPR's schedule, this will have a bad impact on the government because it has to postpone its announcement schedule again. In fact, the government has already delayed the scheduled deadline.

"Later the impact will not be good for the government, I said. Then I asked one of my staff to coordinate again with Commission VIII of the Indonesian Parliament to ask that the Ministry of Religion be allowed to announce it on June 2," explained Fachrul.

"Because there is no feedback from this staff, yes, I think maybe it could be an error in my staff or something so that I will still announce June 2," he added.

He also understood that Commission VIII of the DPR RI as his partner felt offended. However, he insisted that this decision must be announced immediately and could no longer be postponed.

Moreover, President Joko Widodo has asked for a decision on June 1 regarding the departure of Haj this year. So, he apologized for the announcement decision even though the work meeting had not yet been held.

"Whatever the risk, I will say again, the responsibility of the Minister of Religion and it has nothing to do with the government. ... And I have apologized to the DPR. I hope this relationship can be well again," he said.

Fachrul explained, before making this decision, the Ministry of Religion had coordinated with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. As a result, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights stated that the cancellation of the pilgrims' departure was the authority of the Minister of Religion.

"On May 25, we ask for legal certainty for this cancellation. We ask the Minister of Law and Human Rights, we send an official letter. Then on May 27, they replied by saying that it was the full right of the Minister of Religion. The letter also stated laws and other regulations," said Fachrul. .

Previously, after Minister of Religion Fachrul Razi announced the cancellation of the 2020 Hajj, Commission VIII of the Indonesian Parliament was inflamed. This is because Fachrul's decision violated Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah.

Commission VIII DPR RI Yandri Susanto said that the cancellation of the pilgrimage departure should be decided with the DPR through a working meeting.

Yandri added, the work meeting to discuss the implementation of Hajj in 2020 should be held on 4 June. However, Fachrul instead announced the cancellation without a valid mechanism.

The Ministry of Religion, said Yandri, had actually sent a letter to the Indonesian Parliament. However, because it was in a recess, it was finally decided to hold the meeting on Thursday, 4 June using the face-to-face method.

"We have scheduled a work meeting on the day after tomorrow, June 4 at 10.00 WIB with the permission of the DPR leadership for a work meeting with the Minister of Religion," Yandri told reporters, Tuesday, June 2.

This member of the DPR from the PAN Faction added, decisions of this kind need to be made jointly between the ministers and the DPR RI as partners. "It was agreed upon by all with the DPR, including very important matters like this. The DPR must jointly decide whether to cancel it or not," he said.

"We don't know what Saudi Arabia's report is. What if Saudi Arabia suddenly allows our pilgrims to leave next week?" he added.

With this decision, Yandri said that the working meeting between the Minister of Religion and Commission VIII of the DPR RI was no longer needed and this clearly violated the existing decision.

"If the Minister is like this, I do not know that the Minister understands not the state regulations," he said.

He said the government seemed unprepared to face the problem of the Haj pilgrims in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to him, the government seems to have dumped the body with the current condition of the congregation.

"The Ministry of Religion reads the laws. Don't mess around," he said.