The High Cost of Becoming a Regional Head
A number of regional head candidates spent billions of rupiah in the 2024 elections. The elections were rife with money politics.
Hussein Abri Dongoran
December 23, 2024
PARTICIPATING in five regional head elections, Syamsuar, the Governor of Riau from 2019 to 2023, experienced the high cost of running for office. As Chair of the Golkar Party’s Riau Regional Executive Board, Syamsuar admitted to spending lavishly on campaigning. “The 2024 elections were terrible, unbearably expensive,” Syamsuar told Tempo on Thursday, December 19, 2024.
Before becoming Governor of Riau, Syamsuar served as
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