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New regulation removes forum approval for house of worship construction

Source
Tempo - October 4, 2024

Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – The draft Presidential Regulation on the Preservation of Religious Harmony no longer requires a written recommendation from the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB) as a condition for establishing a house of worship.

Head of the Religious Harmony Center (PKUB) at the Secretariat General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, M. Adib Abdushomad, stated that the draft regulation eliminates the authority of FKUB at the district/city level to issue recommendation letters for the establishment of worship houses. In the future, such recommendation letters will be issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Adib emphasized that the authority to issue recommendations should rest with the government. "It is only proper that the government issues the recommendation," he said in Jakarta on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

Adib explained that allowing FKUB to issue recommendations could lead to a deadlock of authority, potentially delaying the process of establishing worship houses. Therefore, under the draft regulation, FKUB will no longer have the authority to issue recommendation letters.

Although FKUB will no longer have this authority, Adib stated that the government will optimize FKUB's role at the district/city level to strengthen religious harmony. The draft regulation also provides for the establishment and duties of FKUB at the national level.

The Presidential Regulation will also include several derivative rules, such as a Ministerial Decree. One of these derivative rules will outline the division of roles between the Ministry of Religious Affairs and FKUB in providing recommendations for worship house permits. "We will still seek FKUB's input because they are familiar with the conditions on the ground," Adib said.

He further stated that the draft regulation had completed harmonization by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on August 16, 2024. The Ministry of Religious Affairs has submitted the draft to President Joko Widodo for approval. "We have sent it to be ratified as a Presidential Regulation," said Adib.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has not yet received any objections from the Ministry of State Secretariat regarding the draft. The ministry is still awaiting approval from the president.

Once the approval is received, five ministries – Religious Affairs, Home Affairs, Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Law and Human Rights, and Education, Research, and Technology – will sign the regulation before it is ratified by the president. "The decision is now with the State Secretariat," said Adib.

Adib expressed hope that the president would ratify the draft regulation before the end of his term. He stressed the importance of legal certainty regarding worship house permits, expressing concern that delays in ratifying the regulation might lead to changes under future administrations.

The removal of FKUB's authority to issue recommendation letters has previously been met with opposition from Vice President Ma'ruf Amin. He criticized Minister of Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas for hastily revoking FKUB's authority. According to Ma'ruf, the recommendations issued by FKUB reflect agreements reached by religious councils, and the regulation had been jointly developed with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

As a former member of FKUB, Ma'ruf claimed to be familiar with the process of issuing recommendations. "The process is not instant. The agreement leading to the issuance of the recommendation letter is made over four months with 11 meetings. I know because I was involved in creating the regulation," Ma'ruf said on August 7, 2024.

For the past three years, the government has been finalizing the draft Presidential Regulation on the Maintenance of Religious Harmony.

The draft aims to revise the role of FKUB and the procedure for obtaining permits to build houses of worship, previously governed by Joint Ministerial Regulation No. 9 and 8 of 2006, which outlined the roles of regional heads in maintaining religious harmony, empowering FKUB, and permitting worship houses.

Deputy V of the Presidential Staff Office, Rumadi Ahmad, stated that the draft regulation is awaiting President Joko Widodo's approval. "It is already on President Jokowi's desk," Rumadi said yesterday.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1924575/new-regulation-removes-forum-approval-for-house-of-worship-constructio

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