Special Committee Member Claims Surprise at Yaqut's Alleged Attempt to Condition USD 1 Million
A member of the Special Committee (Pansus) on Hajj 2024, Marwan Dasopang, expressed shock at reports of alleged efforts by former Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas—a suspect in a suspected corruption case involving hajj quotas—to condition USD 1 million in funds. Marwan stated he was unaware of such activities during the Pansus Hajj’s work.
“I didn’t know. I was quite active in the committee, and I was surprised as well because I didn’t know about it,” said Marwan at the parliamentary complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (13 March 2026).
The Chairman of Commission VIII of the House of Representatives explained that during his work on the committee, he and other members focused on gathering data related to the implementation of the 2024 hajj. According to Marwan, the committee team also travelled directly to Saudi Arabia to collect various information.
“I’m not aware of that, because I continued with my work, and given how seriously we pursued this in Makkah and Saudi Arabia, it wasn’t easy to obtain the data. It was based on that data that we reached our conclusions, which we submitted to the law enforcement authorities, as I understand it,” he said.
Marwan stated that the Pansus Hajj does not have authority in law enforcement. In its conclusions, the committee merely recommended that suspected violations with potential legal implications be followed up by law enforcement authorities (APH).
“We don’t go that far (into law enforcement). Our conclusion is that if there are violations related to legal matters, then it’s left to those who handle such matters—what we call the APH. If we’re asked about it, I don’t have that authority. We’ve already stated our conclusions, that’s all,” he added.
Furthermore, Marwan stated that the issue of a 50:50 division of hajj quotas had been discussed in the committee’s report. He said if that was indeed a violation, it had been documented.
“That’s also included in the committee’s report. Yes, it’s a violation, that’s all,” he said.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) previously revealed that Yaqut attempted to “condition” the Pansus Hajj in the House of Representatives to facilitate his plan to equally distribute additional hajj quotas that were supposed to be allocated more to regular hajj quotas. However, Yaqut’s efforts were unsuccessful as the money he attempted to give to the Pansus Hajj was rejected.
KPK Deputy for Prosecution and Execution Asep Guntur Rahayu stated that Yaqut attempted to condition the Pansus Hajj by providing funds from fees he obtained by granting 50 per cent additional quotas to PIHK (Private Hajj Travel Agency). The quota was supposed to be allocated at only 8 per cent of the total 20,000 additional quotas that Indonesia obtained in 2024.
“The money collected from these fees was allegedly also used to condition the Pansus Hajj, as known by YCQ,” Asep explained at a press conference at KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday (12 March).