Governor of North Sumatra


The Governor of North Sumatra is the highest office in the province of North Sumatra. The governor of North Sumatra is an elected official who is responsible for leading the government in North Sumatra, proposing and enacting regional laws, and representing the North Sumatra province inside and outside the court. The governor alongside with the deputy governor and 100 members of the Regional People's Representative Council are accountable for the strategic government of the province of North Sumatra.

Origin

Governor of Sumatra and Junior Governor of North Sumatra

After the proclamation of Indonesian Independence, the newly formed central government of Indonesia immediately formed provinces for the regional administration of the country's territory. Sumatra was established as a province on 19 August 1945. At the session of the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence on the same day, Teuku Muhammad Hasan was nominated as the Governor of Sumatra. Sukarno as the President of Indonesia approved his nomination. On 22 August 1945, Teuku Muhammad Hasan was appointed as the "representative of the President of Indonesia in Sumatra". His appointment as the Governor of Sumatra was enacted by the President of Indonesia via wire on 29 September 1945, while the formal decree was enacted a year later on 29 September 1946.
In accordance to the wire, Hasan as the Governor of Sumatra began appointing residents, regents, and mayors of the residencies, regencies, and cities. Hasan also formed several governmental bureaus to assist the governor in its day-to-day tasks, such as the Financial Bureau, Health Bureau, Education Bureau, Information Bureau, etc. He was also tasked for negotiating with the Japanese forces and the Allied forces, forming the armed forces in Sumatra, appointing members of the People's Representative Council of Sumatra, and coordinating the printing of banknote for Sumatra. He was given legislation power to enact regional laws in Sumatra for regulating the populace affairs.
For about a year, it was realized that due to the difficulties of interregional communication, a separate governor's office for the three main region of Sumatra was needed. On 17 December 1947, Hasan officially declared the formation of the junior governor's office for the three main regions. Four months later, on 14 April 1948, Sutan Mohammad Amin Nasution was inaugurated as the Junior Governor of North Sumatra. This made North Sumatra the first province to inaugurate its own governor, and soon after, the rest of the regions followed suit. The region's decision to inaugurate its own junior governor was formally enacted by the People's Representative Council of Sumatra at its session from 17 until 19 April 1948. The council decided to divide the province of Sumatra into three sub-provinces, based on the region.

Formation and temporary dissolution

The leadership of the junior governors in their sub-province continued de facto independently from the Governor of Sumatra. Realizing this, the central government in Java enacted the Law No. 10 of 1948 on 15 April 1948 that formally dissolved the government of Sumatra and divided Sumatra into three provinces: North Sumatra, Central Sumatra, and South Sumatra. Nasution was promoted from junior governor to governor, and he was inaugurated by President Sukarno as the Governor of North Sumatra on 19 June 1948.
Less than a year, the central government in Java fell to the Dutch forces after the Operation Kraai on 19 December 1948. Before being captured by the Dutch, President Sukarno sent a telegraph message to Sjafruddin Prawiranegara in Bukittinggi giving him a mandate to create a "Republic of Indonesia government in exile". Three days later, the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia, based in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, was established. On 17 May 1949, the emergency government officially dissolved the office of governor and the post of government commissioner was formed. Nasution became the government commissioner for North Sumatra. Since then, civilian affairs was handed over to the military governor.
On 17 December 1949, the emergency government announced the division of North Sumatra into two different province: the province of Aceh and the province of Tapanuli/East Sumatra. It was not until fifteen days later that this division was finally enacted. The province of Aceh was formed on 1 January 1950 with its governor Daud Beureu'eh, and the province of Tapanuli/East Sumatra was formed on 1 February 1950 with its governor Ferdinand Lumbantobing.
On 27 December 1949, the United States of Indonesia was formed. The State of East Sumatra was declared as dissolved and merged to Indonesia by the Wali Negara of East Sumatra, Tengku Mansur, on 15 August 1950. Two days later, on 17 August 1950, the province of Aceh and Tapanuli/East Sumatra was re-merged into the province of North Sumatra. The Chairman of the Preparatory Committee of the Unitary State for East Sumatra, Sarimin Reksodihardjo, became acting governor. He handed over his position to the definitive Governor of North Sumatra, Abdul Hakim Harahap, on 25 January 1951.

Powers and duties

The powers and duties of the Governor of North Sumatra is regulated by the Article 65.1 and 65.2 of the Law No. 23 of 2014 about Regional Government.

Powers

The Governor of North Sumatra is entitled to:
The Governor of North Sumatra has the duty to:

Method

From 1948 until 1957, the Regional People's Representative Council of North Sumatra only recommends the candidates for the Governor of North Sumatra to the president or the Minister of Internal Affairs, while the president or the Minister of Internal Affairs may elect and inaugurate the elected governor.
After the enactment of the Law No. 1 of 1957 on 18 January 1957, the Governor of North Sumatra was nominated and elected by the Regional People's Representative Council of North Sumatra. The president or the Minister of Internal Affairs only had the rights to cancel/confirm the election results and inaugurate the elected governor.
After 2004, the governor — alongside with the deputy governor — was directly elected by the people. The first direct gubernatorial election was held on 24 April 2008, on which the governor and deputy governor Syamsul Arifin and Gatot Pujo Nugroho won the election.

Most recent election

The most recent election was held on 27 June 2018. There were 2 contesting pairs in that election, Edy Rahmayadi and Musa Rajekshah against Djarot Saiful Hidayat and Sihar Sitorus. The election was won by the Edy Rahmayadi-Musa Rajekshah pair by 57.58% of the vote.

Concurrent offices

From 1948 until 1959, the Governor of North Sumatra assumed the office as the Chairman and member of the Regional Government Council. Members of the Regional Government Council were elected by the Regional People's Representative Council with regards to the political composition inside the council. The Regional Government Council has a term of 5 years, and was responsible to the Regional People's Representative Council. In 1959, the Regional Government Council was dissolved and was replaced by the Daily Government Board. The board did not have any leadership, and members of the board is appointed and responsible to the governor.
After the enactment of the Law No. 16 of 1969 on 17 December 1969, the incumbent Governor of North Sumatra became the ex officio member of the People's Consultative Assembly. The incumbent governor became the member of the North Sumatra's Regional Delegation fraction of the assembly. This ex-officio membership was abolished after the enactment of the Law No. 4 of 1999 on 1 February 1999, when the new law banned incumbent governor to became the member of the People's Consultative Assembly.
As of today, the Governor of North Sumatra did not assume any concurrent offices.

Living former governors

As of, there are four living former Governors of North Sumatra. The most recent former governor to die was Marah Halim Harahap, on 3 December 2015. The living former governors, in order of service, are:
PhotoNameTerm of officeDate of birth
Rudolf Pardede
2005–2008
Syamsul Arifin
2008–2011
Gatot Pujo Nugroho
2011–2015
Tengku Erry Nuradi
2015–2018

Trivia

Almost all military officers — except Kaharuddin Nasution — that became the Governor of North Sumatra have previously served in the 1st Military Regional Command/Bukit Barisan, either as commander or chief of staff.