Politics

Halmahera Timur (Haltim) or East Halmahera in North Maluku, home to major nickel smelters, including the recent partnership between CATL (the world’s largest EV battery manufacturer) and Aneka Tambang (ANTM), will also hold an election this year. Regent of Halmahera Timur Ubaid Yakub and Vice Regent Anjas Taher are looking forward to entering the 2024 Halmahera Timur election as incumbent pair of candidates for the second time. Can they win their second term? And who will be their contender(s)?

Halmahera Selatan (Halsel) or South Halmahera in North Maluku, home to major nickel companies, has been controlled by the Kasuba family for the last two decades. However, two members of the family will likely face against each other in the Halmahera Selatan election this year. They are the incumbent Regent Hasan Ali Bassam Kasuba and his cousin, Bahrain Kasuba, who once served as the regent of Halmahera Selatan for 2016-2021 period.

The resource-rich province of North Maluku, one of the world’s largest nickel production centers (second largest in Indonesia), will hold a gubernatorial election this year. It’s worth noting that the two previous governors ended up in jail because of corruption, but it didn’t stop many figures to seek for the governor position. So, who will get a ticket to enter the 2024 North Maluku gubernatorial election?

The mayoral election in Makassar, the capital city of South Sulawesi province, is also truly interesting to watch. Mohammad Ramdhan Pomanto a.k.a Danny Pomanto, currently a politician from PDIP, is no longer able to run for a third term in Makassar and he is now seeking to enter the South Sulawesi gubernatorial election. Meanwhile, Munafri Arifuddin a.k.a Appi, the nephew of former Vice President Jusuf Kalla, will try his luck once again to re-enter the 2024 Makassar city election.

Morowali in Central Sulawesi, home to most investments in nickel-to-stainless steel and EV battery materials, is another resource-rich regency that will hold an election this year. The incumbent Regent Taslim, a politician from Nasdem, is seeking for his re-election.

Another resource-rich regency in Southeast Sulawesi province that will elect its regent and vice regent this year is Konawe. Kerry Saiful Konggoasa, who has been serving as the regent of K0nawe for two periods, is no longer able to run for a third term and is now seeking to enter the Southeast Sulawesi gubernatorial election. So, who will be nominated by Kerry Konggoasa’s party, PAN, to run in the Konawe election? And who will be nominated by PDIP, the winner of the 2024 legislative election in Konawe?

The regional elections in resource-rich regencies that will be held this year are also interesting to watch. One of the resource-rich regencies that will elect its regent and vice regent is Kolaka in Southeast Sulawesi province. Many names have been mentioned as aspiring candidates to run in the 2024 election in Kolaka. However, it’s worth noting that there is no political party that can endorse its own regent candidate without having to form a coalition with another party. Let’s talk about these aspiring candidates.

Southeast Sulawesi, another resource-rich province in Sulawesi Island, will also hold a gubernatorial election this year. Ali Mazi, who is a politician from Nasdem, a political party led by media mogul Surya Paloh, is no longer able to enter the gubernatorial election since he has already served as Southeast Sulawesi governor for two periods. Without Ali Mazi, the 2024 gubernatorial election in Southeast Sulawesi will be an open race for anyone.

There are at least five figures that have been mentioned to run in the 2024 gubernatorial election in Central Sulawesi, the home to Vale Indonesia (current name of INCO), the largest nickel producer in the country. One of them is the incumbent Governor Rusdy Mastura a.k.a Cudy, who is now a politician from Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party.