2018 Riau gubernatorial election

The 2018 Riau gubernatorial election took place on 27 June 2018 as part of the simultaneous local elections. It was held to elect the governor of Riau alongside with their deputy, whilst members of the provincial council (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah) will be re-elected in 2019.

2018 Riau gubernatorial election

27 June 2018
Turnout	58.0%[1]
Nominee Syamsuar Arsyadjuliandi Rachman Firdaus Party PAN Golkar Demokrat Running mate Edy Nasution Suyatno Rusli Effendi Popular vote 799,289 507,187 416,248 Percentage 38.20 24.24 19.89   Nominee Muhammad Lukman Edy Party PKB Running mate Hardianto Popular vote 369,802 Percentage 17.67
Location of Riau within Indonesia
Governor before election Arsyadjuliandi Rachman Golkar Elected Governor Syamsuar

Four pairs of candidates contested the election, including incumbent governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman. Other candidates are Firdaus, mayor of the province's capital Pekanbaru, DPR member and former cabinet minister Muhammad Lukman Edy, and Siak Regency regent Syamsuar.

After winning 38.2 percent of the votes, Syamsuar would defeat the incumbent and become governor for the 2018-2023 period.

Timeline

A voter submitting her ballot at a polling station in Pekanbaru, Riau

Registration for party-backed candidates were opened between 8 and 10 January 2018, while independent candidates were required to register between 22 and 26 November 2017.[2] The candidates were assigned their ballot numbers on 13 February 2018.[3] The campaigning period would commence between 15 February and 24 June, with a three-day election silence before voting on 27 June.[4] In April 2018, KPU declared that there were 3,622,488 eligible voters for the election.[5]

Candidates

Under regulations, candidates are required to secure the support of a political party or a coalition thereof comprising at least 20 percent of the seats in the regional house. Alternatively, independent candidates may run provided they are capable of securing support from 8.5 percent of the total voter population (333,119 voters) in form of photocopied ID cards subject to verification by the local committee although no candidates expressing interest managed to do this.[6]

#	Candidate	Position	Running mate	Parties[7]
1	Syamsuar	Regent of Siak	Edy Nasution	PAN PKS Nasdem
2	Muhammad Lukman Edy	Member of People's Representative Council	Hardianto	PKB Gerindra
3	Firdaus	Mayor of Pekanbaru	Rusli Effendi	Demokrat PPP
4	Arsyadjuliandi Rachman	Incumbent governor	Suyatno	Golkar PDI-P Hanura

Syamsuar, having won elections in Siak Regency twice, was approved by PAN to run in the gubernatorial election despite himself being a member of Golkar.[8] After securing the support of Nasdem and PKS, he was eligible to run with 13 seats in the provincial council. His running mate Edi Nasution is a brigadier general in the Indonesian Army, who was stationed at Pekanbaru.[9]

Muhammad Lukman Edy had previously ran twice for governor - in 2008 and 2013 - and lost in both occasions. In addition to being member of DPR and holding a deputy chair post at MPR, he was the chairman of PKB's Riau office, and secured the support of his party to run. His running mate Hardianto is a member of Riau's provincial council, and the pair secured just enough seats in it to run (7 from PKB, 6 from Gerindra).[10][11]

Also with 13 seats in the council, Pekanbaru mayor Firdaus ran for governorship. The supporting parties are his own (Demokrat, with 9 seats) and PPP (4 seats). His running mate, Rusli Effendi, is a PPP member who had served 10 years in the provincial council.[12][13]

Incumbent Arsyadjuliandi Rachman (who was made governor following the arrest of his predecessor by the Corruption Eradication Commission in 2014) managed to secure the support of Golkar, PDI-P and Hanura.[14] His running mate Suyatno was the regent of Rokan Hilir.[15]

Polling

Pollster	Date	Sample size	Syamsuar-Edy	Lukman-Hardianto	Firdaus-Rusli	Arsyad-Suyatno
Polmark	5–11 June 2018	1200	40.3	8.9	13.3	8.5
LKPI	24 May-6 June 2018	1985	25.6	33.2	12.3	11.2
Poltracking	20–25 February 2018	800	19.8	17.8	16.4	11.2

Results

Quick count

Pollster	Syamsuar-Edy	Lukman-Hardianto	Firdaus-Rusli	Arsyad-Suyatno
Polmark	38.17	17.25	20.23	24.35

References

1. "PENETAPAN HASIL : PILKADA PROVINSI RIAU". Komisi Pemilihan Umum. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
2. Putra, Putu Merta Surya (8 January 2018). "Pendaftaran Paslon Pilkada 2018 Dibuka, KPU Ingatkan Ikuti Aturan". liputan6 (in Indonesian). Retrieved 20 January 2018.
3. Tanjung, Chaidir (13 February 2018). "Diikuti 4 Pasang, Ini Daftar Nomor Urut Pilgub Riau". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
4. Suryowati, Estu (14 June 2017). "Tahapan Pilkada Serentak 2018 Dimulai, Ini Jadwal Lengkapnya". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). Retrieved 20 January 2018.
5. Dewi, Ratna Sari (24 April 2018). "KPU Riau Tetapkan DPT Pilkada 2018 Sebanyak 3,62 Juta Pemilih". GoRiau (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
6. "Hingga Batas Pendaftaran, Tidak Ada Calon Independen Ikuti Pilgub Riau 2018". OkeZone (in Indonesian). 27 November 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
7. Syukur, M (13 February 2018). "Ini Nomor Urut Cagub-Cawagub Pilkada Riau 2018". liputan6 (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
8. Sani, Abdullah (27 October 2017). "PAN beri restu Bupati Siak Syamsuar maju Pilgub Riau". Merdeka (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
9. Tanjung, Banda H (2 January 2018). "Bupati Siak dan Jenderal Edi Didukung 3 Partai di Pilgub Riau". SINDOnews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
10. Tanjung, Chaidir Anwar (10 January 2018). "Akhirnya PKB dan Gerindra Usung Lukman Edy-Hardianto di Pilgub Riau". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
11. Riang, Tangguh Sipria (8 October 2017). "Dua Kali Kalah, Lukman Edy Nyagub Lagi Di Pilgub Riau?". Rakyat Merdeka (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
12. Sani, Abdullah (7 January 2018). "Demokrat dukung pasangan Firdaus-Rusli Efendi di Pilgub Riau". Merdeka (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
13. Effendy, Muslikhin (9 January 2018). "Profil Calon Wagub Riau Rusli Effendi: Siap Membangun Bumi Lancang Kuning Menuju Riau Al-Munawwarah". GoRiau (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
14. Sani, Abdullah (10 January 2018). "Diusung tiga partai, petahana gubernur Riau daftar ke KPU". Merdeka (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.
15. Dewi, Ratna Sari (10 January 2018). "Profil Calon Wakil Gubernur Riau Suyatno: Lahir dan Dibesarkan di Lingkungan PNS". GoRiau (in Indonesian). Retrieved 5 July 2018.