Rekonseptualisasi Kewenangan FKUB dalam Pendirian Rumah Ibadah: Perspektif Konstitusionalisme dan Minority Rights Theory

Abstract

This study examines the constitutional issues surrounding the authority of the Religious Harmony Forum (Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama/FKUB) in issuing recommendations for the establishment of houses of worship in Indonesia. The main issue lies in the tension between the guarantee of freedom of religion and worship as a non-derogable constitutional right and the administrative licensing mechanism requiring social approval and FKUB recommendations. Such a mechanism potentially gives rise to majoritarianism by placing the fulfillment of minority groups’ constitutional rights under the approval of the majority. This study aims to critically analyze the legitimacy and practice of FKUB’s authority within the framework of Indonesian constitutionalism and to formulate a reconceptualization of FKUB based on a rights-based approach. The research employs a normative juridical method combined with a socio-legal approach through the analysis of legislation, academic literature, and other relevant data. The findings reveal that FKUB’s authority has shifted from a facilitative function to a quasi-regulatory power with determinative characteristics, thereby creating potentially unconstitutional conditions in the fulfillment of religious freedom. This condition demonstrates a disharmony between the regulatory regime governing houses of worship and the principles of Pancasila constitutionalism and minority rights theory. Therefore, this study proposes the reconceptualization of FKUB as a non-discriminatory mediator without the authority to determine the fulfillment of the right to worship.