Profile Johnny G Plate, A Plantation Tool Entrepreneur Chosen By Jokowi As Minister Of Communication

Illustration of Johnny G Plate (BPMI Setpres-Rusman)

YOGYAKARTA President Joko Widodo appointed Johnny G Plate, a politician from the Nasdem Party as Minister of Communication and Information in the Working Cabinet Volume 2. The following is Johnny G Plate's profile.

Johnny Gerard Plate is a man who was born on September 10, 1956 in Ruteng, Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. He married Maria Ana and has three children.

Johnny Gerard Plate studied his elementary school at SDN REO I. After that he continued his education at SMP ST Pius XII Kisol Manggarai. The upper secondary education was pursued at SMAN 1 Ruteng Manggarai. After that he continued his studies at the Indonesian Shipping Academy (AIP) cadets.

On the official website of Kominfo, Johnny Gerard briefly studied at Atma Jaya Catholic University Jakarta at the Faculty of Economics and Business. This is where he gets business knowledge which is an important capital for a businessman.

Before becoming a politician, Johnny Gerard was a businessman in the field of plantation equipment. He started the business around the 1980s. At that time, plantation openings were rampant in Kalimantan and Papua. Not satisfied with the results he got, Johnny then started the aviation transportation business. He even briefly became a Commissioner of PT Air Asia.

Johnny's interest in politics has actually existed since he studied. At that time he became a student activist and joined the Catholic Student Association of the Republic of Indonesia (PMKRI). At PMKRI his interest in politics became increasingly passionate.

The Nasdem Party is not Johnny's first political party. In 2013 he briefly joined the Indonesian Democratic Party (PKDI) and became chairman.

Johnny G Plate's career in politics increased after he decided to join NasDem. In the party created by Surya Paloh, in 2014, Johnny advanced to become a candidate for legislature in his native area, NTT, including Kab. Alor, Kab. Ende, Kab. East Flores, Kab. Lembata, Kab. Manggarai, Kab. West Manggarai, Kab. East Manggarai, Kab. Nagekeo, Kab. Ngada, and Kab. Sikka.

His candidacy to become a member of the legislature has sweet fruit. He was appointed a member of the DPR for the 2014-2019 period. During his tenure as DPR, Johnny was appointed Secretary General of NasDem in 2017.

Johnny returned to his position as chairman of the DPR after the 2019 Election. This position indirectly led Johnny G Plate to the position of Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo). President Jokowi appointed him in 2019. At that time he replaced the previous Minister of Communication and Information, Rudiantara.

During his tenure as Minister of Communication and Information, Johnny often received attention regarding his policies. For example, on August 19, 2019, at that time the Government received a lot of criticism from the public because it was considered to have silenced opinions by blocking the internet in West Papua.

Responding to this, Johnny G Plate had said that the internet slowdown which led to internet blocking in Papua was caused by damage to infrastructure.

"There could be damage to telecommunications infrastructure that has an impact on internet networks in the area," Johnny told reporters, Wednesday, March 3, 2019.

Recently, Johnny G Plate was again in the spotlight because of the issue of a ministerial reshuffle that will be carried out by President Jokowi. He even reportedly declared himself resigned from the ministerial seat, but the Nasdem politician dismissed the news.

Although there are many slanted rumors, the Secretary General of the NasDem Party stated that he will continue to support the Jokowi government until 2024.

In addition to Johnny G Plate's profile, visit VOI.ID to get other interesting information.