2017 Banten gubernatorial election

A gubernatorial election was held on 15 February 2017 to elect the governor of Banten province for the five-year term between 2017 and 2022. The election was held simultaneously with other provincial and local elections across the country as part of the 2017 local elections. It pitted incumbent Rano Karno against People's Representative Council member and former mayor of Tangerang Wahidin Halim.

2017 Banten gubernatorial election

15 February 2017
Turnout	60.4%[1]
Nominee Wahidin Halim Rano Karno Party Demokrat PDI-P Running mate Andika Hazrumy Embay Mulya Syarief Popular vote 2,411,213 2,321,323 Percentage 50.95 49.05
Results by regency/city. Regencies/cities won by Rano Karno are in red (■), while the ones won by Wahidin Halim are in blue (■). Lighter shades (■or■) indicate a winning majority of less than 5%.
Governor before election Rano Karno PDI-P Elected Governor Wahidin Halim Demokrat

Wahidin, supported by a coalition of 6 parliamentary parties, secured a landslide victory in his former constituency at Tangerang, and defeated Rano with a margin of 90,000 votes despite losing in 6 of the other 7 regencies and cities.

Background

Ratu Atut Chosiyah served as the governor of Banten - Indonesia's fifth most populous province - between 2007 and 2014, until she was arrested for a bribery scandal related to an election dispute.[2] Some has described her family's influence in the province as a "political dynasty".[3] 2017 marked the second time Indonesia held local elections simultaneously, after the 2015 local elections.[4]

After some time being acting governor, former actor Rano Karno who was also Atut's deputy was sworn in the governor to replace her in August 2015.[5] The Election Supervisory Council (Bawaslu) identified Banten as a vulnerable region for the 2017 election, alongside Aceh and West Papua. In particular, the body cited the strong presence of political dynasties.[6]

Timeline

Registration for the candidates opened between 28 and 30 August 2016, with the campaign period ranging from October 2016 to February 2017. The voting itself took place on 15 February 2017. The results were planned to be released in March 2017.[7]

Candidates

#[8]	Candidate	Position	Running mate	Parties[9]
1	Wahidin Halim	Member of People's Representative Council Mayor of Tangerang (2008-2013)	Andika Hazrumy	Gerindra Golkar Demokrat PKS PKB Hanura PAN Total: 57 DPRD seats
2	Rano Karno	Incumbent governor of Banten	Embay Mulya Syarief	PDI-P Nasdem PPP Total: 28 DPRD seats

Opinion surveys

Source	Date	Sample size	Wahidin	Rano
Indo Barometer	24–28 January 2017	800	35.2	42.5
Lembaga Survei Politik	21–27 January 2017	800	39.5	32.1
Jaringan Suara Indonesia	20–24 December 2016	700	42.7	36.2
SMRC	9–14 September 2016	816	36	59

Issues

Affiliation with Atut's dynasty became a major issue in the campaign. Both candidates accused each other of being affiliated with her dynasty: Rano-Embay because Rano was Atut's deputy, Wahidin-Andika because Andika is Ratu Atut's son.[10][11] Atut herself voiced support for her son.[12]

Results

Votes by subdivision[1]	Wahidin-Andika		Rano-Embay
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Cilegon	76,480	42.36	104,070	57.64
Serang	123,803	44.62	153,638	55.38
Tangerang	508,908	66.86	252,220	33.14
South Tangerang	259,701	47.65	285,289	52.35
Lebak Regency	254,182	42.92	338,079	57.08
Pandeglang Regency	243,571	46.36	281,832	53.64
Serang Regency	365,794	55.29	295,812	44.71
Tangerang Regency	578,774	48.67	610,383	51.33
Total	2,411,213	50.95	2,321,323	49.05
Valid votes			4,732,536	60.40
Invalid votes			123,042	1.57
Registered voters			7,835,703	100

On 5 April, KPU officially announced Wahidin-Andika as the winning pair.[13]

Aftermath

Following the defeat, PDI-P leader Megawati Soekarnoputri removed the party's leaders in Banten.[14] Rano brought the election to the Constitutional Court, which rejected his lawsuit (citing that the difference in votes was too large) and declared the election valid.[15] On 12 May 2017, Wahidin was sworn in as the new governor.[16]

References

1. "SK Penetapan Hasil Pilkada Banten 2017 (download link)" (PDF) (in Indonesian). KPU Banten. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
2. Kapoor, Kanupriya (9 February 2014). "Arrest of Indonesia's first woman governor a blow for coalition". Reuters. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
3. Sukoyo, Yeremia (23 August 2016). "Political Dynasty a Blight on Banten Elections: Electoral Watchdog". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
4. Chan, Francis (13 February 2017). "Key things to know about Indonesia's regional elections on Wednesday". The Straits Times. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
5. Armenia, Resty (12 August 2015). "Rano Karno 'Si Doel' Sah Jadi Gubernur Banten Gantikan Atut". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
6. Tarigan, Mitra; Rahayu, Dewi Suci (11 February 2017). "Pilkada 2017: Aceh, Papua dan Banten Paling Rawan". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
7. Deslatama, Yandhi (3 August 2016). "Tahapan Pilgub Banten 2017 Resmi Dimulai". Liputan6 (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
8. Rifa'i, Bahtiar (25 October 2016). "Wahidin-Andika Nomor Urut 1 di Pilkada Banten, Rano Karno-Mulya Nomor Urut 2". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
9. Mahbub, Amri; Ulum, Wasiul (14 February 2017). "Pilkada Banten, Peta Pendukung Wahidin-Andika Vs Rano-Embay". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
10. Wijaya, Callistasia Anggun (5 February 2017). "Wahidin-Andika vows to end political dynasty in Banten". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
11. Wijaya, Callistasia Anggun (6 February 2017). "Tight race predicted in Banten election". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
12. "Atut voices support for son in Banten election race". The Jakarta Post. 22 August 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
13. Ulum, Wasi'ul (5 April 2017). "KPU Tetapkan Wahidin Halim sebagai Gubernur Banten Terpilih". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
14. Ulum, Wasi'ul (22 February 2017). "Rano Karno Kalah, Megawati Copot Pimpinan PDIP di Banten". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
15. Kusuma, Edward Febriyatri (3 April 2017). "MK Tolak Gugatan Rano Karno, Gubernur Banten Wahidin-Andika". Detik (in Indonesian). Retrieved 29 March 2018.
16. "Dilantik Jadi Gubernur Banten, Wahidin Halim Siapkan Pendidikan Gratis - Kompas.com". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). 12 May 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.