"Well, we follow the legislative inquiry as it is guaranteed by the Constitution," he said in response to the formation of the DPR's special inquiry committee on Hajj management in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists after accompanying President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to a meeting with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, Ahmed Al Tayeb, at Merdeka Palace, Qoumas affirmed that his ministry would provide all relevant information regarding Hajj management.
The ministry will provide details on all the Hajj management processes, starting from preparations to the stages of rituals, to the DPR's inquiry committee members, he said.
The DPR approved the formation of the special inquiry committee at a plenary session on Tuesday.
The inquiry committee will consist of 27 members representing various factions of the DPR, including the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), Golkar Party, Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, NasDem Party, Democratic Party, Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN), and United Development Party (PPP).
As previously reported, the House of Representatives’ (DPR’s) Hajj monitoring team discovered that Indonesian Hajj pilgrims’ tents in Mina, Saudi Arabia, resembled those used in "refugee camps."
"We deplore this bad service given to our Hajj pilgrims in Mina," said Wisnu Wijaya Adiputra, a member of the DPR's Hajj monitoring team, in a recent press statement.
Because of the tents’ limited capacities, several pilgrims were compelled to stay in densely packed tents without gender segregation during the recent Hajj rituals in Mina, he revealed.
Adiputra said that several pilgrims, notably the elderly, opted to stay outside to avoid the packed tents whose conditions resembled "refugee camps."
The Hajj monitoring team also found a tent with a capacity of 80 pilgrims in Mina, which was forced to accommodate around 1,200 pilgrims, he added.
Meanwhile, Qoumas asserted that Indonesia’s 1445 Hijri Hajj pilgrimage proceeded successfully, with the regular quota of approximately 213,320 pilgrims being optimally accommodated.
He mentioned that only 45 pilgrims from the regular quota were unable to embark on the pilgrimage due to delays in obtaining their Hajj visas.
He claimed that the unabsorbed quota was "the smallest in over a decade of organizing the Hajj pilgrimage."
During this year’s Hajj season, Indonesia secured a quota of 241,000 Hajj pilgrims through an agreement reached with the Saudi government on January 8.
The overall count included 221,000 individuals undertaking the pilgrimage under the initial quota and an additional 20,000 pilgrims approved by the King of Saudi Arabia.
The additional quota was secured by President Jokowi during a bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabian Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud in October 2023.
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Translator: Rangga, Andi, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Anton Santoso
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