KPK: 50:50 Division of Hajj Quota Ordered by Yaqut
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has revealed that the change in the division of additional hajj quota from 92 per cent regular hajj and 8 per cent special hajj to 50:50 was carried out on the orders of former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas (YCQ).
Initially, in June 2023, the Government of Saudi Arabia set Indonesia’s basic hajj quota at 221,000 pilgrims. This quota was then divided through Religious Affairs Ministry Decree Number 1005 of 2023 with an allocation of 203,320 regular hajj pilgrims and 17,680 special hajj pilgrims.
In October 2023, the Indonesian Government held a meeting with the Saudi Arabian Government. In that meeting, Indonesia was stated to have received an additional quota of 20,000 pilgrims. The total overall quota for Indonesian hajj pilgrims in 2024 then increased to 241,000.
“This additional quota was necessary because of the long hajj waiting queue in Indonesia, which stretches to 47 years,” said KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu at a press conference at his office on Thursday (12 March).
In a Working Meeting between the Religious Affairs Minister with Commission 8 of the House of Representatives regarding the Financial Accountability Report of Hajj Worship Operations for 2023, it was determined that the additional hajj quota of 20,000 would be divided into 92 per cent for regular hajj and 8 per cent for special hajj.
This division was based on Law Number 8 of 2019 concerning the Implementation of Hajj and Umrah Worship, which stipulates that the special hajj quota can only be granted at 8 per cent of the total Indonesian hajj quota.
However, as developments unfolded, the KPK discovered internal communications indicating instructions to change the composition of the division of the additional quota.
The KPK revealed plans to separate the division of the additional quota of 20,000 from the base quota of 221,000.
In November 2023, there was communication between the Technical Staff of the Indonesian Hajj Affairs Office in Jeddah and Ishfah Abidah Azis (IAA), known as Gus Alex, Special Staff to Yaqut, stating that Indonesia’s 2024 hajj quota entered into the e-hajj application was only 221,000, not 241,000.
After receiving this information, Gus Alex conveyed that the additional quota of 20,000 would be divided into 50:50, based on instructions from Yaqut.
“In this communication, IAA stated that the person in question had discussed and received instructions from YCQ as Religious Affairs Minister,” revealed Asep.
The KPK disclosed that Yaqut’s desire to divide the additional hajj quota into 50:50 was because of the content of a meeting between Yaqut and the Silaturahmi Forum of the Association of Hajj and Umrah Travel Agents (SATHU), initiated by Fuad Hasan Masyhur.
“The meeting discussed, among other things, the request from the SATHU Forum to manage the additional special hajj quota of more than 8 per cent,” explained Asep.
In this case, Yaqut and Gus Alex have been designated as suspects by the KPK. Yaqut has already been detained by the KPK for the first 20 days. Meanwhile, the KPK has scheduled a call for Gus Alex next week.
During the ongoing investigation process, the KPK has conducted searches at several locations including Yaqut’s residence in Condet, East Jakarta, hajj and umrah travel agency offices in Jakarta, the residence of a Civil Servant from the Religious Affairs Ministry in Depok, and the office of the Directorate General of Hajj and Umrah Implementation (PHU) of the Religious Affairs Ministry.
Many items of evidence allegedly related to the case were seized. These include documents, electronic evidence, vehicles and property.
Based on calculations by the State Audit Board (BPK), the state is said to have suffered losses of IDR 622,090,207,166.41 (approximately IDR 622 billion) from the alleged corruption case involving the additional hajj quota for the 2023 and 2024 operations.