Black Passports to Reduce Working Visit Frequency: Fahri Hamzah

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - House of Representatives deputy speaker Fahri Hamzah said that the issuance of black passports for House members could reduce the frequency of working visit overseas. Fahri explained that House members who needed to go overseas must gain approval from the Foreign Affairs Minister.

“The working visit approval must be issued by the Foreign Affairs Minister who is responsible for the government diplomacy,” Fahri, who is a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party, said on Saturday, February 13, 2016.

Fahri explained that the Legislative Institution (MD3) Law mandated a diplomacy function for the House in order to support Indonesia’s foreign politics.

“So, we [the House] are a part of the diplomacy function. There is a second method of diplomacy, namely the parliamentary one,” Fahri added.

According to Fahri, House members who gain black passports are those who are conducting a working visit. When they are not visiting, the passports will be recalled.

“That was the deal made during [former House Speaker] Setya Novanto’s era. I’m not really sure about now. But this will reduce the frequency of working visits for commissions without diplomacy functions. This is the consequence of the MD3 Law revision,” Fahri said.

Earlier, House Commission I overseeing defense, intelligence and foreign affairs asked Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to issue diplomatic passports for 560 House members. The passports are provided for state officials, such as ministers, to conduct working visits overseas. For the House, such passports are issued only for House speakers.

ANGELINA ANJAR SAWITRI