Minister slammed for missing hajj talks

Jakarta, NU Online
Irate lawmakers claiming to have been snubbed by Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali have blamed him for stalling negotiations over the government’s hajj fee and called for him to be censured.

Suryadharma was scheduled to testify on Tuesday before the House of Representatives’ Commission VIII for religious affairs but instead sent a ministry official in his place.<<>br />
However, commission chairman Abdul Kadir Karding, from the National Awakening Party (PKB), told journalists on Wednesday that the official was not senior enough to speak on the minister’s behalf at the meeting, which was the final in a series to negotiate the fees charged to pilgrims going on the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Abdul said Suryadharma’s recalcitrance had rendered Tuesday’s planned four-hour discussion “meaningless.” “We, the leadership of Commission VIII, believe the minister should be cited for contempt,” he said.

Abdul was accompanied at Wednesday’s media conference by legislators from almost all parties represented in Commission VIII, including the Democratic Party, Golkar Party, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), National Mandate Party (PAN), People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). Suryadharma is chairman of the United Development Party (PPP).

Abdul said that the commission would send a letter to the president and the House leadership, objecting to the minister’s failure to show up or delegate a high-enough ranking representative in his place.

“We’ll complain about the minister’s unwillingness to resolve the differences between the House and the ministry on this crucial issue of hajj fees,” he said as quoted by Jakarta Globe.

Commission VIII has been pushing the ministry to reduce the current $3,444 per pilgrim, while the ministry had earlier proposed a $133 fee hike.

The final sticking point centers around the ministry’s proposal to hike the main component of the fee, dealing with accommodation for pilgrims while in Mecca, from the current 2,500 Saudi riyals to 3,000 Saudi riyals ($660 to $800).

“We insist that this component remain the same because we’ve done the research and can safely conclude that 2,500 riyals is sufficient for accommodation,” said legislator Ibrahim S Batubara, from the PAN.

He added several other components of the fee were not necessary and could be cut. “There’s this component called the ‘image-building cost,’ which totaled Rp 12.5 billion last year,” he said.

Hanura’s Ahmad Fauzi said the commission wanted to reverse the trend of hajj fees being hiked every year. “We must reduce it for the sake of the people,” he said.

In a bid to highlight the importance of the issue, the Democrats’ Imron Mochtar said all future commission hearings would be opened to the public. Previous hearings, including Tuesday’s, were held behind closed doors.

“We want to make it clear that the lack of a decision so far on the hajj fee is not because the House is playing around, but because of the ministry,” he said.

Ministry spokesman Abdul Ghafur Djawahir could not be reached for comment. (dar)