Donny Ermawan to Remain Deputy Defence Minister While Serving as URI Governor

Donny Ermawan Taufanto will continue to serve as Deputy Minister of Defence after being inaugurated as governor of the University of the Republic of Indonesia (URI). “Yes, I am still Deputy Minister of Defence,” Donny said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (22/7). Donny explained that his reason for holding concurrent positions is that the two roles he occupies are considered to overlap. He mentioned that one of the overlaps involves the promotion of national insight, which he believes is still correlated. “We are also in the Ministry of Defence, with duties to provide socialisation related to defending the country and national insight, and that still has a correlation,” he said. Donny was inaugurated as Governor of URI on Wednesday (22/7), accompanied by Yos Sunitoyoso as Vice Governor of URI. The inauguration was based on Presidential Decree Number 80/P Tahun 2026 concerning the Appointment of the Governor and Vice Governor of the University of the Republic of Indonesia. “Appointing Donny Ermawan Taufanto as Governor of the University of the Republic of Indonesia and Yos Sunitoyoso as Vice Governor of the University of the Republic of Indonesia,” Prabowo stated during the inauguration. Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said the University of the Republic of Indonesia institution is being prepared to produce future national leaders by adopting leadership education models implemented in several countries. “We have been preparing it for a long time. However, the timing was not quite right before. I will explain the details later. So, we are learning from how several countries have educational institutions specifically designed to prepare future leaders,” Prasetyo said at the Presidential Palace Complex. Prasetyo stated that government officials, state-owned enterprise officials, and even regional heads generally undergo education at such institutions. “All government officials, all state-owned enterprise officials, even governors and regents, must enter or have attended education at that one institution,” he said. Through a similar model, the government hopes that future Indonesian leaders will possess both technical skills and a strong sense of national insight.