NasDem Not Present At The Palace Tuesday Night, Johnny Plate: Surya Paloh Abroad

Minister of Communication and Information as well as Secretary General of the Nasdem Party Johnny G. Plate gave a statement at the Jakarta Presidential Palace, Thursday (4/5/2023). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the Nasdem Party Johnny G Plate explained that the General Chairperson of the Nasdem Party Surya Paloh did not attend the meeting of coalition political parties carrying President Joko Widodo's administration at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday evening May 2, because he was abroad. "Pak Surya Paloh was abroad, only until yesterday afternoon, just returned," said Plate to the media crew quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 4. However, Johnny admitted that he did not know whether Surya Paloh was invited by President Jokowi at the meeting. Johnny said that at the time of the meeting of the coalition political parties, he was in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, to check the readiness of the 42nd ASEAN Summit. "That's Nasdem's commitment, we will not move from there. After 2024 there, that's another matter," Johnny added. The man who also serves as the Minister of Communication and Information Technology also responded to the assumption that Nasdem is not compact with the coalition political parties supporting Jokowi for declaring Anies as a candidate. According to Johnny, this is reasonable as a political dynamic. "If the matter considers him a political dynamics, the important thing is his commitment," added Johnny.

Earlier, on the evening of Tuesday, May 2, President Jokowi invited high-ranking government coalition political parties to hold a meeting at the Merdeka Palace. Present at the meeting were PDI-P General Chair Megawati Soekarnoputri, Golkar Party Chairperson Airlangga Hartarto, Gerindra Party Chair Prabowo Subianto, Plt. PPP Chairman Mardiono, PAN Chairman Zulkifli Hasan, and PKB Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar.