Ansar Ahmad (born 10 April 1964) is an Indonesian politician who served as the governor of

Riau Islands The Riau Islands ( id, Kepulauan Riau) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping la ...

following the 2020 gubernatorial election. He had previously served as a member of the

People's Representative Council The People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Republik Indonesia, DPR-RI), also known as the House of Representatives, is one of two elected chambers of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), ...

, and before that he served 10 years as regent of

Bintan Regency Bintan Regency (formerly Riau Islands Regency; id, Kabupaten Kepulauan Riau) is an administrative area in the Riau Islands Province of Indonesia. Bintan Regency includes all of Bintan Island (except for the city of Tanjung Pinang which is sepa ...

Early life

Ahmad was born in the town of Kijang, in

Bintan Island Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community. Bintan's l ...

, on 10 April 1964. He later studied economics at the

University of Riau Universitas Riau ( id, Universitas Riau) is a public university in Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists o ...

Pekanbaru Pekanbaru is the capital of Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern part of Sumatra, Sumatra Island. Its name is derived from the Malay language, Malay words for 'new market' ('pekan' is market and 'baru' is new). ...

Career

After graduating, he began to work at the local government of Riau Islands (at the time a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

) as an employee of the regional revenue office. After being promoted several times, he eventually became head of economics in Riau Islands, and in 2000 the municipal council elected him as vice-regent for Riau Islands. As the regent, Huzrin Hood, was removed by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 2003, Ahmad became the acting regent. He was first elected as Bintan's regent following the 2005 regency election, in a six-candidate race where he won with 32.4 percent of votes, and he was sworn in on 10 August 2005. He was reelected in 2010 and served his second term until its expiry on 10 August 2015. He ran as the running mate of Soeryo Respatiyono during the 2015 gubernatorial elections for

, but the pair lost. In the 2019 legislative election, Ahmad was elected to the

in the Riau Islands electoral district, placing first among other legislature candidates there after securing 45,699 votes. Within the legislature, he was assigned to its fifth commission. He later was elected governor of Riau Islands in the 2020 gubernatorial elections with Marlin Agustina as his running mate, with the pair winning 39.97% of votes. One of his primary programs is the construction of the

Batam-Bintan Bridge The Batam-Bintan Bridge ( id, Jembatan Batam-Bintan), also known as the Babin Bridge (from Batam and Bintan) is a proposed series of cable-stayed bridges crossing the Riau Strait between the islands of Batam and Bintan in the Riau Islands of Indo ...

, which he endorsed for during his term as a legislator and during campaigning for the gubernatorial election. He is a member of

Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = '' Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...

, and has served as chairman of the party's Riau Islands branch between 2005 and 2020.

References

{{reflist Living people 1964 births Golkar politicians Members of the People's Representative Council, 2019 Mayors and regents of places in the Riau Islands University of Riau alumni