Polemic Of Minister Main Domino's Photo: Different Fates Abdul Kadir Karding And King Juli Antoni

Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni at the Social Forestry Workshop and Business Meeting of North Sumatra KTH, in Medan, North Sumatra, Wednesday (10/9/2025). (ANTARA/HO-Kemenhut RI)

JAKARTA Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni became the center of attention of netizens after his photo playing domino was widely spread on social media. His photo caused confusion because the politician from the Indonesian Solidary Party (PSI) played domino with the former illegal logging suspect, Aziz Wellang.

Realizing his presence with Aziz Wellang caused a polemic, in his clarification Raja Juli admitted that he did not know the two other players who were playing with him at that time. It was only when the photo circulated that he found out that one of the figures who played was Aziz Wellang, who was reported as a wild logging player.

However, political observer Dedi Kurnia Syah assessed that the King of July has the potential to be the next target of President Prabowo's reshuffle.

The domino game photo was first circulated in the internal WhatsApp group of the South Sulawesi Family Harmony (KKSS) and PORTI (Indonesian Domino Sports Association) before it finally went viral on social media. In the photo, the King of July is seen wearing a long-sleeved batik, sitting on a domino playing table with the Minister of Protection for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PM2MI) Abdul Kadir Karding, Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Domino Sports Association DPN Andi Rukman Nurdin Karumpa, and businessman Aziz Wellang.

This photo has drawn criticism among the public, political observers, and environmental activists. The King of July is said to be unethical because as Minister of Forestry he even played with a figure who had previously stumbled on a case of illegal logging.

Deputy Head of Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaign Achmad Saleh Suhada assessed that public officials, especially at the ministerial level, should show a very careful attitude, maintain integrity, and avoid all forms of interaction that can reduce public trust.

"For the community, small symbols and gestures such as 'just playing domino' can lead to negative perceptions that damage the credibility of the ministry in leading the forest rescue agenda," said Achmad.

He added that the photo was not just a matter of private meetings, but touched on structural problems in Indonesian forest governance.

"The weakness of supervision, conflicts of interest, and the gap in corruption in the forestry sector. Precisely because of that, it is important for state officials to set an example of transparency, maintain distance from problematic actors, and ensure full partiality to forest protection and law enforcement," he explained.

Aziz Wellang was named a suspect by the Directorate General of Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) in the case of illegal logging in Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan in November 2024.

Aziz is also suspected of being involved in logging outside the company's concession permit covering an area of 11,580 hectares through PT ABL and its contractor PT GPB. The results of the illegal logging activity resulted in a volume of approximately 1,819 cubic meters and is estimated to have cost the state Rp2.72 billion.

However, Aziz Wellang submitted a pretrial application for the determination of the suspect and on December 9, 2024, the Central Jakarta District Court canceled the status of the suspect.

In terms of politics, the circulation of a photo of the Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni with the former suspect in the case of forest logging Aziz Wellang was a major blow to the Prabowo Subianto government.

Lingkar Madani founder Ray Rangkuti assessed that this was possible because of the large number of ministers in the Red and White Cabinet. So that supervision of maintaining ethics in the ranks of the fat cabinet becomes weak.

"This incident explains that the large number of state officials who are in the palace circle has made supervision difficult. Lack of control. At the same time, because being recruited based on their preferences is sometimes not verified in its form, character, character, and so on," Ray told VOI.

Shortly after the photo circulated, Migrant Worker Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding, who also played domino on the occasion, was included in Prabowo's reshufflekabinet list with four other ministers.

Ray believes that the domino playing incident is one of the reasons behind Prabowo's decision to expel Kadir Karding from his cabinet. This behavior, he said, had injured the face of the Prabowo government.

"Domino brings a reshuffle. There is no doubt in this regard. The main factor is behavior that is considered to tarnish the face of the Prabowo government. After a big demonstration by the public over the indifferent and arrogant behavior of the elites, the domino play event is certainly difficult to understand as an alpha," he added.

Karding directly denied this claim, although he himself admitted that he did not know for sure the reason Prabowo included him in the initial Septermber Reshufflekabinet list.

Unlike Kadir Karding, who was removed from his position after the viral photo of him playing domino with Aziz Wellang, Raja Juli is still perched in the ranks of KMP. At least until now his position still looks safe.

However, political observer and Executive Director of the Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) Dedi Kurnia Syah predicts that Raja Juli's name could be included in the list of further edition cabinet reshuffles.

In order to maintain the stability of his cabinet, Prabowo is made possible to reshuffle again by releasing ministers who often experience controversy, including Minister of Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia and King Juli Antoni.

"In the future, it is not impossible for the reshuffle to be carried out again, with the target of allowing Bahlil Lahadalia, Raja Juli Antoni, these two figures to have made a lot of noise, Bahlil related to LPG policies," said Dedi.

"The King of July has problems with nepotism efforts where he accommodates PSI cadres to his ministry's agenda, and is also detected as having a relationship with a criminal case," he concluded.