Lukman Hakim Saifuddin Inaugurated As Minister Of Religion In History Today, 9 June 2014

Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, who was Minister of Religion from 2014-2019. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA History today, 11 years ago, June 9, 2014, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) inaugurated Lukman Hakim Saifuddin as the new Minister of Religion (Menag). Lukman immediately promised to change the image of the Ministry of Religion which was destroyed by corruption cases.

Previously, the Ministry of Religion was tarnished by the issue of corruption in the 2012-2013 hajj fund. Minister of Religion, Suryadharma Ali was declared involved. The Indonesian people were excited. Instead of Suryadharma being present as a protector of diversity, he instead made the ministry of corruption.

The Ministry of Religion is here to accommodate the interests of all religions. The goal is to bring harmonization between religious communities. All kinds of religious conflicts are tried to be suppressed. Even though the ministers emerged from among Muslims.

Problems arise. The task of a Minister of Religion is not an easy matter. This was proven when Suryadharma Ali became Minister of Religion. The presence of Suryadharma is considered to bring new winds in the Ministry of Religion. He is believed to be able to stand in the interests of all religions.

Instead of going well, Suryadharma is considered to be concerned with personal interests. He is considered to have committed a corruption crime. The case is not kidding. He is suspected of playing in the 2012-2013 hajj fund corruption.

The corruption gap is because the Ministry of Religion has the authority, both as a regulator and operator of Hajj. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) smelled Suryadharma's bad behavior. Finally, Suryadharma was named by the KPK as a corruption suspect on May 22, 2014.

Suryadharma was involved in determining the hajj organizers (PPIH), the appointment of a companion officer amirul hajj, accommodation, and utilizing the rest of the hajj quota. The image of Suryadharma is getting tarnished.

This condition made him immediately move to resign from the Minister of Religion on May 28, 2014. He did not want his bad image to affect the Indonesian people to see the SBY government all bad.

"I leave all of that to the KPK, which is currently conducting an investigation. I can't reach too much detail, down, because organizing Hajj with a total of 194 thousand Hajj pilgrims is not an easy job.

"That was also asked of me. I don't know exactly if there is such a game being carried out by Commission VIII. I don't know if any member of Commission VIII is doing these businesses. That's where the problem arises, including housing (housing) which is categorized as bad. The housing is owned by one person and we were asked to take it or not take everything. Our housing team felt pressured because it was tied in time and competitors from other countries who also needed a house," said Suryadharma as quoted by the ANTARA page, May 22, 2014.

The vacancy in the position of the Minister of Religion made President SBY rack his brain. He immediately looked for the right candidate to fill the vacant position of the Minister of Religion. Later the name Lukman Hakim Saifuddin appeared. Politicians who are also Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) figures are considered the right figure.

At its peak, SBY inaugurated Lukman as the new Minister of Religion on June 9, 2014. He was sworn in at the State Palace. SBY hopes that Lukman will soon be able to restore the positive image of the Ministry of Religion. Not as the ministry of the nest of corruption.

Lukman also agreed to SBY's wish. He immediately gave up a new slogan from the Ministry of Religion: Ikhlas Beral. The slogan is a form of restoring the public's trust and morals of Ministry of Religion employees.

"Make this a charity field for all of us, make all of us a role in carrying out our functions and tasks is part of worship. All of our activities in serving at the Ministry of Religion, I want to invite everyone based on motivation for worship. Working culture in the ministry is not easily changed, but the demands of the community are extraordinary," said Lukman as quoted on the Tempo page the day after the inauguration, June 10, 2014.