Govt's Arbitrary Hajj Pilgrimage Cancelation Frustrates DPR
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3 June 2020 08:50 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives (DPR) religious affairs commission speaker, Yandri Susanto, on Tuesday was openly disappointed with the government’s decision to cancel this year’s Hajj pilgrimage without involving the DPR.
As reported yesterday, the hajj 2020 cancelation was announced by the Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi.
“Maybe the minister of religious affairs is not aware of the Constitution,” said Yandri to reporters on Tuesday.
According to Yandri, Law No.8/2019 on Hajj and Umrah oversees the decision on hajj, and how it is performed must be jointly decided by the government and DPR. He asserts that the government cannot make such decisions arbitrarily.
He also noted that the Religious Affairs Minister had previously sent a request for a hearing regarding this year’s hajj on Friday, May 29, which the House Commission VIII initially scheduled to take place on June 2.
However, the minister’s request was not able to be met as the House of Representatives cannot approve a meeting during recess. The House Speaker had eventually permitted the hearing to take place on Thursday this week, which has already been informed to the State Minister.
“But suddenly, without any phone calls, Whatsapp message, [the hajj 2020 cancelation] was announced,” said the legislator.
BUDIARTI UTAMI PUTRI | AHMAD FAIZ
