Suryadharma Ali Resigns from Cabinet to Fight Hajj Graft Charge

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite, May 26, 2014

Former Religious Affairs Minister and United Development Party (PPP)
chairman Suryadharma Ali. (JG Photo/Fajrin Raharjo)

Jakarta. Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali resigned from the cabinet on Monday after he was charged by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in relation to alleged impropriety in the country’s $5 billion fund for the hajj pilgrimage.

“Suryadharma Ali has returned the mandate as religious minister back to president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the president has asked Suryadharma to submit a written resignation within a day or two,” State Secretary Sudi Silalahi told a press conference Monday.

Suryadharma met with Yudhoyono at the Istana Bogor in West Java, and Sudi said Yudhoyono had urged Suryadharma to concentrate on mounting his defense against the corruption charges.

Suryadharma has denied all charges against him and insisted that the matter is a misunderstanding.

“The President advised Suryadharma to be strong and be prepared — being made a suspect is not the final say on the matter,” he said.

Suryadharma was named a suspect by KPK on Thursday and was handed a travel ban for six months by the immigration office. He maintains that he has no case to answer and his supporters emphasized the importance of the presumption of innocence, but Yudhoyono said in Manila at the weekend that the business of state could not be jeopardized by the furor surrounding Suryadharma. Yudhoyono’s comments were a clear indication that Suryadharma’s days at the ministry were numbered.

Activists and analysts had repeatedly called for his resignation and urged Suryadharma to follow the example set up by former youth and sports minister, Andi Alfian Mallarangeng, who immediately announced his resignation after he was named a suspect by KPK in the Hambalang sport center graft case.

Indonesia’s hajj fund is a centrally managed account comprising deposits paid by people wishing to go on Islam’s greatest pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Pilgrims must deposit around $2,000 and sit on a waiting list for between 12 and 17 years.

A general view shows pilgrims performing evening prayers in Mecca’s

 Grand Mosque on October 8, 2013. Indonesia's religious affairs minister has

 been charged with corruption over the alleged misuse of the country's hajj

fund. (AFP Photo)

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