T

he graft-ridden Koran procurement at the Religious Affairs Ministry, totalling Rp 55 billion (US$5.88 million), appears to be only a small chunk from trillions of rupiah allocated for community programs last year.

It seems Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali will be expected to explain this financial matter at a hearing with lawmakers on Monday.

According to the ministry’s budget, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, the Rp 55 billion Koran procurement is only part of Rp 3.028 trillion allocated by the ministry for a unit working on Islamic community guidance.

The ministry also allocated much smaller amounts for issues related to other religions, namely Rp 36.72 billion for Protestant affairs, Rp 12.35 billion for Catholic affairs, Rp 34.12 billion for Hinduism and only Rp 5.6 billion for Buddhism.

The Rp 55 billion spent on Koran procurement is part of Rp 58.67 billion allocated for programs to strengthen the faith of mosque congregations, Islamic communities and the renovation of religious affairs offices (KUA).

Part of the same funds were also used for the improvement of access and quality of Islamic schools of all levels nationwide as well as for haj management.

In addition, the questionable Koran procurement has also revealed other irregularities within the ministry as it is also reported to have allegedly misused Rp 18 billion of an approximate Rp 30 billion allotted to procure computers for laboratories at Madrasah Tsanawiyah (junior Islamic high schools) last year.

An official with the ministry’s religious education division, Sastra Juanda, admitted that the ministry had planned to spend the money on upgrading all laboratories at all public Islamic high schools, adding that the ministry would arrange a similar procurement worth Rp 50 billion this year.

“I’m not sure whether this year’s procurement will be equally distributed to all [public Islamic] high schools because we are still discussing the budget with lawmakers,” he said on the sidelines of a closed-door meeting with Commission VIII on Thursday.

Sastra, however, refused to comment on the Koran scandal, arguing that he was not in charge of the matter.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Golkar lawmaker Zulkarnaen Djabar, as well as his son Dedy Prasetya, suspects in the scandal. Zulkarnaen was named a suspect for instructing the Religious Affairs Ministry’s Directorate General for Islamic Affairs to name certain companies, including his son’s PT KSAI, winners of the procurement project.

The case will likely implicate more of Zulkarnaen’s colleagues from Commission VIII as they have admitted to accepting Korans to distribute to their constituents.

Meanwhile, the Golkar Party may suggest to Zulkarnaen that he resign from the party in an effort to prevent the party’s image from deteriorating.

Golkar deputy secretary-general Nurul Arifin said on Thursday that even though Golkar had yet to make an official statement, most of the party’s politicians had agreed to ask deputy treasurer Zulkarnaen to resign from his post, both as a member and lawmaker.

“We have decided that it’s best for Zulkarnaen to temporarily leave Golkar until the case is settled. I’m not the only one who thinks so; my colleagues also agree in order to save the party’s image,” Nurul said.

Separately, an antigraft activist said Zulkarnaen still enjoyed privilege as a party member and lawmaker and could put the whole investigation in jeopardy.

“Even though the regulation doesn’t say anything about temporary dismissal for a lawmaker who has been named a graft suspect, the political party should still be aware of it. Their graft-battling commitment is being put to the test,” Febri Diansyah of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said on Thursday.