Governor of Bali

Governor of Bali
Gubernur Bali ᬕᬸᬩᭂᬃᬦᬸᬃᬩᬮᬶ
Seal of Province
Incumbent I Wayan Koster since 20 February 2025
Bali Provincial Government
Style	Governor (informal) His Excellency (international correspondence)
Type	Head of government
Residence	Jaya Sabha Complex, East Denpasar
Seat	Denpasar
Appointer	Direct popular elections within Bali or President of Indonesia
Term length	Five years, renewable once 1 year (specifically for Acting Govenror)
Precursor	Governor of Lesser Sunda
Formation	1958 (1958)
First holder	I Gusti Ketut Pudja (as a Governor of Lesser Sunda) Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja (as a Governor of Bali)
Deputy	Vice Governor of Bali
Salary	Rp3 million (US$213.17) per month
Website	baliprov.go.id

The Governor of Bali is the Head of the first-level in the Bali Provincial Government who holds the government in Bali along with the vice governor and 55 members of the Bali Regional House of Representatives۔ The Governor and Vice Governor of Bali are elected through general elections which are held every 5 years.

History

On August 14, 1958, the Province of Bali was formed, which was originally a residential area of the Province of Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara into an autonomous province in Indonesia. The Province of Bali has been under the auspices of various leaders who have changed the socio-economic and cultural conditions of the Balinese people. There have been at least nine governors and two acting governors who have led the Province of Bali with various backgrounds such as bureaucrats/non-party civil servants, the military and political parties.

Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja

Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja (August 14, 1959-1966) was the first governor to lead Bali. Bagus Sutedja was previously the Governor, he as a civil servant or non-party official had become the regional head of Bali when Bali was still a resident area of the Province of the Nusa Tenggara Islands. Bagus Sutedja began his career when the Balinese government experienced a political system transition from an autocratic-regency kingdom system to an integrated government of the Republic of Indonesia. In 1958, when Bali became an autonomous province, the People's Representative Council-Gotong Royong (DPR-GR) was formed. The DPR-GR functions to elect the regional head (Governor) of Bali, where this regional head election event will change the political map of Bali. At that time there were two camps of the Indonesian National Party (PNI), Soekarno's party competing to be able to serve as Governor, namely the Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja camp and the I Nyoman Mantik camp. However, Soekarno and the PNI elite chose Bagus Sutedja because of his political closeness and Bagus Sutedja's experience in managing the Bali region when it was a resident region, finally Bagus Sutedja was inaugurated by President Soekarno on August 14, 1959.

The major problem faced by Bali during the era of Governor Bagus Sutedja was the aftermath of the tragedy (called by the government) of G30S/PKI and the heating up of the tension of the PNI political elite between the Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja camp and the I Nyoman Mantik and Wedastera Suyasa camp. This political conflict and polarization gave birth to the dark event of the Human Rights tragedy (HAM) of the mass slaughter of the Balinese people in 1965-1966, where the people and PNI political elites of the Sukarnoist elements in the Sutedja camp were killed, people suspected of being affiliated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) were killed and artists and critics of the government were punished without going through a trial. After the G30S, Sutedja was officially invited by Chairul Saleh as the Chairman of the MPRS to Bandung and President Soekarno to Jakarta in December 1965, and lived temporarily in Jakarta with his family, but after July 29, 1966, he was picked up by the military and his fate is unknown and his body was found. This major problem changed the social and cultural patterns of the Balinese people who used to like demonstrations, parades, critical demonstrations against the government into a calm condition towards the government.

I Gusti Putu Martha and Soekarmen

I Gusti Putu Martha (1966-1967) was the second governor of Bali Province who came from the National Party. He replaced Bagus Sutedja whose whereabouts are unknown. Soekarmen (1967-27 August 1978) was the third governor of Bali Province who came from the military group. He led Bali for two terms, namely from 1967-1971 and 1971-1978, and was the first non-Hindu (Muslim) Governor of Bali. Until now the author has not obtained data on the policies made by Governors Putu Martha and Soekarmen. There are book notes from Prof. Henk Schulte Nordholt, a socio-political scientist who tells that around 1970, the Bali Provincial Government designed a master plan that focused mass tourism on the southern tip of Bali, in the Nusa Dua area, Badung Regency (Nordholt, 2007). However, this became the envy of other regencies, so that Soekarmen's replacement, namely Governor Ida Bagus Mantra, then opened nine additional tourist areas, followed by Governor Ida Bagus Oka who added fifteen tourist areas in 1988 and six more tourist areas in 1993, with a total tourist area that was a quarter of the island of Bali (Nordholt, 2007).

Ida Bagus Mantra

Ida Bagus Mantra (August 27, 1978-August 27, 1983) was the fourth governor of Bali Province from Golkar Party who serving during the New Order government of Soeharto, he had a vision and mission of policies that Balinese culture derived from Hindu values as the basis for the development of Bali Province. The legacy of his policies resulted in a program known as the Bali Arts Festival (PKB) which was first held (June 20, 1979-August 23, 1979). The construction of offices and buildings in Bali is inseparable from the policy that buildings must implement the local wisdom of Tri Hita Karana and be arranged with Balinese architectural nuances. The term we know that office buildings, hotels, and other buildings must not exceed the height of a coconut tree from the legacy of his policies. Ida Bagus Mantra also made a policy, namely Regional Regulation (Perda) Number 6 of 1986 concerning the Position, Function, and Role of Traditional Villages, until now the traditional villages/pakraman have become traditional government institutions that regulate spirituality and culture to conceptualize Tri Hita Karana in the lives of Balinese people. The Perda also contains the presence of the Village Credit Institution (LPD) in Bali, namely a savings and loan business entity owned by traditional villages, which is useful for the economic development of traditional village communities and a source of original income for traditional villages in Bali Province.

Ida Bagus Oka

Ida Bagus Oka (August 27, 1993-May 23, 1998) was the fifth governor of Bali Province from the Golkar party serving during and post-New Order government of Soeharto, he was part of the ministers in President B.J. Habibie's reform cabinet. Ida Bagus Oka was a controversial governor during his time because he was known to be cooperative with foreign investors and the New Order government, related to the tourist economy in Bali so that he was given the nickname "Ida Bagus OK". In the Ida Bagus Oka Era, he added fifteen tourist areas in 1988 and six more tourist areas in 1993, with a total tourist area of a quarter of the island of Bali, resulting in a massive surge in touristification of the tourism industry economy (Nordholt, 2007). Touristification is a process in which a place changes due to becoming an object of tourist consumption, sometimes it can have negative implications for tourist attractions because it has received informal and formal opposition from the environment and surrounding community.

One of them is that he gave permission to build the Bali Nirwana Resort in Tabanan (its location is close to the sacred location of Tanah Lot Temple). The controversy over the environmental impact analysis of the resort development sparked a protest movement across the island of Bali, from academics, students, NGO activists, the local newspaper Bali Post, and representatives of the opposition party PDI. The protest movement was finally stopped when there was intervention from President Soeharto and Le Meridien Nirwana Golf and Spa Resort began advertising its soft-opening in 1997 (Nordholt, 2003). In addition to the Tanah Lot case, there was also the case of the construction of a large resort on Padanggalak Beach, Kesiman Village, Sanur in 1997, which received resistance from the community because the beach was a religious site for Denpasar residents to perform melasti ceremonies and post-cremation purification. In late November 1997, Governor Oka declared that all development activities on Padanggalak Beach were cancelled, so that the incident became history that middle-class protests and village-based resistance were strong enough to defeat a coalition between foreign investors and local officials.

Dewa Made Beratha

Dewa Made Beratha (August 27, 1998-August 28, 2008) was the sixth governor of Bali Province who served two terms, namely 1998-2003 and 2003-2008. During his administration, negative sentiment emerged from Balinese scholars and Hindu figures regarding the presence of many Muslim immigrants and people from Eastern Indonesia. Therefore, in January 2003, he and the regents/mayors made an agreement to issue a uniform policy on levies for non-Balinese people to pay Rp. 200,000 per year for their residence permits, and migrants from other places in Bali were charged Rp. 20,000.00 per year (Nordholt, 2003). This levy policy has become one of his legacies to this day. In his era, Bali Provincial Regulation Number 3 of 2001 concerning the Role of Customary Villages was born, which gave full authority (autonomy) to the pakraman village (village that has the power to regulate customs) to run its internal affairs, and formulated the law on the presence of pecalang as a traditional security task force, especially those related to customary and religious activities (Nordholt, 2007). The special autonomy of the pakraman village gave the pakraman village the right to village land that could not be sold or taxed by the government, and opened up opportunities for the pakraman village to provide credit, open local businesses, and demand money from surrounding hotels for the original village views enjoyed by hotel guests.

Dewa Made Beratha also played an important role in supporting the local media Bali Post (Bali Post Media Group / KMBP) which was led by Satria Naradha. Satria Naradha was the person who launched the concept of Ajeg Bali, a concept about the discourse on preserving Balinese culture. Ajeg Bali was introduced at the inauguration of Bali TV (a television channel from KMBP), when Dewa Made Beratha encouraged television viewers to stabilize Balinese customs and culture (Nordholt, 2007). The concept of Ajeg Bali brought by Bali TV includes news presenters and reporters delivering the opening greeting Om Swastyastu and closing Om Santhi Santhi Santhi Om, broadcasting Hindu prayers (Puja Trisandya) at 6 am, 12 noon, 6 pm by imitating the Islamic format and Christian prayer style, and the talk show Dharma Wacana (Nordholt, 2007). The legacy of the concept of broadcasting the Puja Trisandya prayer still exists today both on local and national television broadcasts. The politics and campaign of Ajeg Bali which is related to the Bali Post as a local media, made Dewa Made Beratha re-elected as Governor of Bali in August 2003 (Nordholt, 2007).

I Made Mangku Pastika

I Made Mangku Pastika (August 28, 2008-August 29, 2018) was the seventh governor of Bali Province who served two terms, namely 2008-2013 and 2013-2018. He came from a retired police officer and became a politician as a governor of Bali Province. Mangku Pastika's most memorable policy in the world of public health is the Bali Mandara Health Insurance (JKBM) program which is stated in the Bali Governor Regulation (Pergub) Number 6 of 2010. The background of this JKBM Policy was born to synchronize the Bali public health insurance program with the Provincial Government together with the regency/city governments throughout Bali to distribute health insurance financing, because previously each district had their own health insurance program, for example there was the Jembrana Health Insurance (JKJ) and Askes Mandiri Tabanan. JKBM functions to provide fair health services for the Balinese people with financing subsidized by the provincial and regency/city governments outside those that already have other health insurance.

Elections

Since 2005 as the enactment of Law Number 32 of 2004 in Indonesia, heads of local government (governors, regents and mayors) have been directly elected by popular election.

The election is held every five years, elections for governor and vice governor are held for a fixed five-year term.

The first gubernatorial election in Bali was held in 2008, where previously the governor was determined by the Bali Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) seat in Denpasar, with a majority seats in the DPRD.

Most recent election

Main article: 2024 Bali gubernatorial election

The most recent election was held on 27 November 2024 to elect both the governor and vice governor of Bali for the 2025 to 2030 term. The election was held as part of local elections for governors, regents, and mayors across 36 other provinces in Indonesia.

List of Governors & statistics

This is a stastitics list of governors who have held office in the province of Bali in Indonesia.

No.	Photo	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Party
Governor of Lesser Sunda
1		I Gusti Ketut Pudja	19 August 1945	29 January 1946	163 days		Independent
Vacant		29 January 1946	16 October 1950	4 years, 260 days	—
2		Susanto Tirtoprodjo	16 October 1950	5 April 1952	1 year, 172 days		National
—		Sarimin Reksodihardjo	5 April 1952	6 May 1953	1 year, 31 days		National
Governor of Nusa Tenggara
1		Sarimin Reksodihardjo	6 May 1953	1 April 1957	3 years, 330 days		National
—		I Gusti Bagus Oka	1 April 1957	4 May 1957	33 days		Independent
2		Teuku Daudsjah	4 May 1957	20 December 1958	1 year, 230 days		Independent

Governors of Bali

No.	Photo	Name	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Party
(1)		Anak Agung Bagus Sutedja	14 August 1959	18 December 1965	6 years		Independent
3		I Gusti Putu Martha	18 December 1965	1 November 1967	2 years		National
4		Soekarmen	1 November 1967	27 August 1978	11 years		Military
5		Ida Bagus Mantra	August 27, 1978	August 27, 1988	10 years		Golkar
6		Ida Bagus Oka	August 27, 1988-	May 23, 1998	10 years		Golkar
7		Dewa Made Beratha	29 August 1998	28 August 2008	10 years		PDI-P
8		I Made Mangku Pastika	28 August 2008	29 August 2018	10 years, 1 day		Democratic
—		Hamdani	29 August 2018	5 September 2018	7 days		Independent
9		I Wayan Koster	5 September 2018	5 September 2023	5 years		PDI-P
—		Sang Made Mahendra Jaya	5 September 2023	20 February 2025	1 year, 168 days		Independent
9		I Wayan Koster	20 February 2025	Incumbent'	63 days		PDI-P

References

Bibliography

• Ardhana, I Ketut (1993). Balinese puri in historical perspective: the role of Puri Satria and Puri Pamacutan in social and political changes in Badung, South Bali, 1906–1950. doi:10.25911/5d7634a8da426.
• Anderson, Benedict Richard O'Gorman (2006). Java in a Time of Revolution: Occupation and Resistance, 1944–1946. Equinox Publishing. ISBN 978-979-3780-14-6.