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Jokowi appoints youngest Cabinet minister of Reform era
President Jokowi has appointed Golkar politician Dito Ariotedjo as the new youth and sports minister amid heightened public scrutiny of the country’s sports sector following the FIFA U-20 World Cup fiasco.
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Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo speaks to reporters following his inauguration ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta, on April 3, 2023. (Courtesy of Cabinet Secretariat /Agung)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appointed Golkar Party politician Dito Ariotedjo as the new youth and sports minister on Monday, making the 32-year-old the youngest member of a presidential cabinet in more than two decades as the country wrestles with its loss of hosting duties for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Having ascended through the party ranks to head Golkar’s youth wing, the Indonesian Reform Youth Force (AMPI), from 2017 to 2022, Dito replaces his senior by 28 years, Zainudin Amali, who resigned last month after he was elected deputy chief of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI).
Golkar chairman and Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, as well as and Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy, who served as the interim sports minister after Zainudin stepped down, were present at the inauguration ceremony, which also saw police general Comr. Gen. Rycko Amelza Dahniel appointed as the new head of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT).
Speaking to the press after his inauguration, Dito said his first order of business was to prepare the country’s athletes for upcoming international events.
“In terms of the SEA Games and the Asian Games, the President wants us to prioritize the branches of sports that [Indonesia] stands a chance of winning medals in. So we have to be efficient,” Dito said.
The South East Asian (SEA) Games and the Asian Games are set to be held in May and September this year, respectively.
Dito added that Jokowi had instructed him to help make sporting events more accessible to the public, including those at the school and university levels and between local communities.
