President Prabowo Subianto Reviews 2026 Hajj Implementation, Order Better Services and Shorter Waiting Time

President Prabowo Subianto welcomes Minister and Vice Minister of Hajj and Umrah, along with the speakers of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), and several members of Commission VIII at his private residence in Hambalang, on Wednesday (6/17).

President Prabowo Subianto Wednesday (06/17) welcomed Minister and Vice Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Speakers of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), and several members of Commission VIII at his private residence in Hambalang.

The meeting focused on reviewing the organization of the 2026 Hajj and on measures to further improve service quality for Indonesian pilgrims in the upcoming Hajj season.

Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf said that the organization of the 2026 hajj had gone well, although several aspects still needed improvement, noting that the strong synergy between the Government and DPR RI through the Hajj Supervisory Team had been built.

Irfan added that this collaboration enabled swift and appropriate responses to challenges in the field, ensuring that services for pilgrims were maintained.

“Alhamdulilah, today, the parliamentary leaders and I met with the President, and we are very glad he praised this year’s Hajj implementation,” Irfan said in his statement.

Irfan also noted although he only began serving in September 2025, while the Saudi government’s hajj operational phase had already started in June 2025, Ministry of Hajj and Umrah was still able to catch up with the preparations. He also explained that several improvements in the 2026 Hajj were achieved through collaboration among ministries and other institutions.

“First, we saw a clear acceleration in visa issuance, with visas being released around the middle of Ramadan, which is truly extraordinary. Nusuk hajj cards and travel packages have begun to be distributed in Indonesia, so we no longer hear of pilgrims being separated from their families, arriving without allocations, or pilgrims lost. Moreover, although we were formally assigned Package D this year, in practice the services were beyond that, almost comparable to Package C in quality,” said Irfan.

The Government has also begun implementing a multi-year service contract scheme with Hajj service providers. According to Irfan, this step is expected to improve service quality and give providers greater certainty to invest in better facilities for Indonesian pilgrims.

The Minister added that President Prabowo Subianto also outlined several strategic directives to further improve Hajj services in 2027, including enhancing the quality of meals for pilgrims, advancing service preparation earlier, and upgrading the standard of accommodations and hotels for Indonesian pilgrims.

“The President conveyed several inputs for improving Hajj services in 2027, including ensuring meals are prepared earlier and to a higher standard, as well as upgrading accommodation services for pilgrims,” he said.

Irfan went to say that the Head of State also underscored the importance of developing the Hajj Village concept as a long-term initiative to enhance services and reduce the overall cost of organizing the Hajj pilgrimage for Indonesians.

“The President expects the Hajj Village to become a key part of efforts to improve services for pilgrims and reduce Hajj costs. We will discuss this with the DPR RI, although we are aware of many challenges this year, particularly exchange rate movement, higher aviation fuel (avtur) price, global uncertainty, and the Saudi Arabia’s policy of raising service charges, all of which will inevitably affect costs. We will address all of these issues together with the DPR RI,” Irfan said.

President Prabowo Subianto has also paid close attention to efforts to shorten the waiting time for Hajj departures. Irfan noted that several regions that previously faced very long waiting periods have begun to see improvement but said the Head of State has instructed the Ministry to keep pursuing breakthroughs to significantly reduce pilgrims’ waiting time.

“This year, we have confirmed that the maximum Hajj waiting period is 26 years, although previously it was 35 and 40 years, and in places like South Konawe, it was nearly 50 years. However, the President still considers it insufficient and has asked us to find ways to further shorten the waiting time. Together with the DPR RI, we must work hard to make it happen,” Irfan concluded.

President Prabowo’s directives affirmed the Government’s commitment to consistently providing better, more affordable, and equitable hajj services for all Indonesian pilgrims, in line with efforts to make Hajj more professional and genuinely people oriented as a public service. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (JAS/EP)