Mahfud Md appointed Indonesia's Acting Communications Minister

JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo today appointed the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security (Menkopolhukam) Mahfud Md as acting Minister of Communications and Informatics.

The appointment was to enable Mahfud to carry out his duties at the ministry after Johnny G. Plate was arrested by the Attorney-General's (A-G) office on Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in corruption.

"Mahfud will take over," said Joko, better known as Jokowi, to the media at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport here before departing for Japan for a working visit.

Plate is suspected of being involved in an eight trillion rupiah (US$544 million) corruption case for "a fourth generation (4G) base transceiver station" project worth 10 trillion rupiah implemented by an agency under his ministry.

Jokowi called on all parties to respect the legal process taken by the A-G's office while denying political interference in the case.

"What is clear is that the A-G's office will carry out their duties professionally and objectively," he said.

-- BERNAMA