Antoni was one of the three deputy ministers inaugurated by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday.
The inauguration was based on Presidential Decree Number 24 M of 2022 concerning the Dismissal and Appointment of Deputy Ministers of the Advanced Indonesian Cabinet for the 2019-2024 period.
"President appointed Wempi Wetipo as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Afriansyah Noor as Deputy Minister of Manpower, Raja Juli Antoni as Deputy Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Deputy Head of the National Land Agency," the Deputy Apparatus Administrative Sector of the State Secretary Ministry, Nanik Purwanti, stated while reading out the decree on Wednesday.
The news regarding Antoni's appointment to join the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet was circulating since June 14 after he visited the State Palace to fulfill President Jokowi's invitation.
The 44-year-old man, who was born in Pekanbaru on July 13, will serve to accompany Hadi Tjahjanto, the former Indonesia Defense Forces (TNI) commander, who was just appointed by President Jokowi to lead the ministry.
Prior to joining PSI, Antoni's political career started in the PDI-P from 2009 until 2014.
After joining PSI with majority of the youth participants, he was trusted to serve as Secretary-General of PSI, and his current position is Secretary of the PSI Central Board for the 2019-2024 period.
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Jokowi's preference for Antoni was also apparent when he was selected as Deputy Secretary of the Jokowi-Ma'ruf winning committee. He also served as the Spokesperson for the Jokowi-Ma'ruf winning committee during the 2019 Presidential election.
He also briefly served as a candidate for the General Chair of PP Muhammadiyah for the 2015-2020 period though resigned since he was keen to focus on his political career with PSI that he had just founded along with several other young politicians.
Antoni earned his bachelor's degree from IAIN Syarif Hidayatullah, now UIN Jakarta, in 2001 by writing a thesis titled, "Ayat-ayat Jihad: A Critical Study of the Interpretation of Jihad as Holy War."
In 2004, he had received the Chevening Award scholarship for master's studies at the University of Bradford, England, and completed a thesis titled, "The Conflict in Aceh: Searching for A Peaceful Conflict Resolution Process."
He received his second scholarship in 2010 for his doctoral studies at the University of Queensland, Australia. He completed his doctoral studies with a dissertation titled, "Religious Peacebuilders: The Role of Religion in Peacebuilding in Conflict Torn Society in Southeast Asia," taking case studies of Mindanao, South Philippines, and Maluku, Indonesia.
Apart from having an active political career, Antoni is also the executive director of the Indonesian Institute (TII). He also still actively writes for various national media outlets.
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Translator: Mentari Dwi G, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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