DPR Applauds Hajj Implementation Under Prabowo, Pilgrim Queue Reduced by 26 Years

The Chairman of the Hajj Supervisory Team (Timwas) of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal, has expressed appreciation for various aspects of the Hajj pilgrimage organised by the government under President Prabowo Subianto. According to him, a number of breakthroughs have been achieved, ranging from a reduction in Hajj costs to a shortening of the waiting period for pilgrims. “These best improvements have been realised and occurred during the leadership of President Prabowo,” Cucun said after a meeting with Prabowo in Hambalang, Bogor, on Wednesday (17/6/2026).

He explained that one important achievement is the reduction in the Hajj Travel Cost (Bipih). Over the past two years, the cost of Hajj has reportedly decreased by approximately Rp 6 million, thereby easing the burden on more than 200,000 prospective pilgrims who have long awaited the opportunity to depart for the Holy Land. Additionally, Cucun highlighted the government’s efforts to reduce the waiting time for Hajj departure. Whereas previously the Hajj queue in several regions reached 35 to 40 years, it has now been successfully reduced to around 26 years. “How this queue, which yesterday was almost 35 years, 40 years, through the assistants of the President, the Minister of Hajj and the Deputy Minister all working, has been able to be reduced to 26 years,” he stated. “He even conveyed earlier, if possible, please make it even faster, what the scheme would be if, for example, this queue is not long,” Cucun added.

The Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives also reported to Prabowo regarding improvements to the pilgrim departure system, including the immigration process which is considered to have improved. According to Cucun, this mechanism is able to anticipate the departure of illegal pilgrims while providing comfort for pilgrims before they fly to Saudi Arabia. In terms of accommodation services, Cucun noted a significant improvement. Nearly 17,000 regular pilgrims this year reportedly received facilities to stay in Zone 1 of Madinah, the area around the Nabawi Mosque, with five-star standard hotels. “We heard testimonials from the pilgrims, ‘Sir, we never imagined being given such a nice hotel, being able to perform the Hajj pilgrimage in a 5-star hotel not far from the mosque’,” Cucun said.

Not only that, the quality of catering for pilgrims has also reportedly improved. According to Cucun, the Ministry of Hajj successfully negotiated with service providers (syarikah) so that the food menu became more diverse and suited to the tastes of the Indonesian people. “If in previous years the rice was something our people were not familiar with, hard rice, yesterday it was more adaptive, friendly to Indonesians,” he said. Nevertheless, Cucun acknowledged that there are still a number of notes requiring improvement in the organisation of the Hajj. However, in general, he assessed that this year’s Hajj implementation showed significant progress. “I said, Sir, please maintain what is already good, right, there are certainly shortcomings. But these notes emphasise to us, everything is already good, the gentlemen from the DPR with their input, the Ministry of Hajj works together and communicates,” he stated.

He affirmed that this success could not be separated from good communication and coordination between the DPR and the government, particularly the Ministry of Hajj. “The capital for that is good communication and coordination between the DPR and the government,” he said. Meanwhile, Member of Commission VIII of the DPR RI, Abidin Fikri, conveyed his appreciation for the performance of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in organising this year’s pilgrimage. He also reminded of the importance of anticipating future Hajj challenges, especially regarding geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East region. “In the challenges of Hajj going forward, of course, because of the geopolitical conditions in the Middle East, which hopefully continue to improve so that our Hajj in the future will be even more successful,” he said. Abidin also expressed gratitude to Prabowo, who is considered to have paid great attention to improving the quality of services for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims. “Thank you to Mr Prabowo who carefully pays attention to the interests of the Indonesian nation, especially the Muslim community, by continuously improving our Hajj pilgrim services,” he concluded.