DPR Asks Saudi Arabian Lobbying Government To Increase Indonesia's Hajj Quota To 164 Thousand

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Commission VIII of the House of Representatives asked the Indonesian government to lobby the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to obtain an additional hajj quota. The reason is, many countries do not send their pilgrims this year.

Member of Commission VIII of the DPR, Bukhori Yusuf, assessed that the government could take advantage of the empty quota to be transferred to Indonesia. He encouraged the quota of 100,051 given to Indonesia to be increased to 164,000 congregations.

"We encourage all 164,000 pilgrims who are eligible to leave this year to be dispatched," Bukhori told reporters, Friday, April 22.

The PKS politician suggested that President Joko Widodo be pleased to have high-level communication with King Salman to realize the additional quota.

Moreover, said Bukhori, Indonesia currently holds the position of the G20 Presidency. According to him, Indonesia should be able to lobby Saudi Arabia to add a hajj quota for Indonesia.

"We hope that the opportunity to lead this prestigious global cooperation group in the economic and development fields can be well utilized by the Indonesian government. So that it will also have a real positive impact on the community, especially our pilgrims," said Bukhori.

Previously, Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said that this year Indonesia would dispatch 100,051 pilgrims who will depart from early June 2022.

"Alhamdulillah, for all of our efforts and prayers, this year we will again dispatch hajj pilgrims with a quota of 100,051 pilgrims and 1,901 officers," said the Minister of Religion, Tuesday, April 19, evening.

"God willing, we will depart the first batch on June 4, 2022," he continued