T

he Banten General Elections Commission (KPUD) announced on Sunday that the pairing of Ratu Atut Chosiyah and Rano Karno have won the province’s gubernatorial post after garnering more than 49.5 percent of the vote.

The KPUD said that the pairing, nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party and others, won 2,136,035 of the 4,302,424 votes.

“We have certified the results and it has been made official during a plenary meeting on Sunday afternoon,” KPUD chairman Hambali told The Jakarta Post.

Atut and Rano defeated their opponents, Wahidin Halim and Irna Narulita and Jazuli Zuhaeni and Zaki Muzzaki.

The Wahidin-Irna ticket got 1,674,957 votes, 36.39 percent of the vote, while the Jazuli-Zaki pairing garnered 491,432 votes, or 11.42 percent of the vote.

Atut and Rano only suffered a defeat in the Tangerang municipality, where Wahidin is its mayor.

The pairing only garnered 160,290 votes, far less than the 513,345 votes collected by Wahidin.

Atut and Rano, however, had built a massive lead in other regions such as in Serang regency, where they won 387,689 votes, while Wahidin and Irna only managed to earn 141,638 votes.

In Lebak regency, Atut and Rano had a commanding lead with 340,435 votes, ahead of Wahidin and Irna, who only got 178,362 votes.

In Pandeglang regency, Atut and Rano were out in front again with 265,789 votes, surging ahead of Wahidin and Irna, who compiled 181,268 votes.

Competition was much tighter in Tangerang, where Atut and Rano were just slightly edged out by Wahidin and Irna by a margin of 486,724 votes to 427,376.

There were a total of 7.11 million eligible voters in Banten.

Atut is the incumbent governor of the province. The 59-year-old woman is a senior member of the Golkar Party.

Atut served as Banten deputy governor between 2002 and 2005.

She served as Banten interim governor between 2005 and 2007, gaining the post following the sentencing of governor Djoko Munandar for corruption.

Atut is the country’s first female governor.

She has been often criticized for her perceived efforts to build a political dynasty to control local politics and key positions in Banten, a claim which she denies.

Atut’s husband, Hikmat Tomet, for example, is a Golkar Party lawmaker in the House of Representatives. Her eldest son, Andika Hazrumy, represents Banten at the Regional Representatives Council. Her daughter-in-law, Adde Khairunnisa, is the deputy speaker of the Serang Council, and her brother-in-law, Aden Abdul Khaliq, is a member of the Banten Council.

Atut’s sister-in-law, Airin Rachmi Diany, was recently declared the winner of the inaugural municipal election in South Tangerang by the Constitutional Court following a re-vote in March.

Atut’s stepmother, Heryani, is now the deputy regent of Pandeglang.

Relatives of Atut are now top officials in four of Banten’s eight regencies and municipalities.

Besides Airin and Heryani, Atut’s brother, Tb Chaerul Zaman, serves as the deputy mayor of Serang and her sister, Ratu Tatu Chasanah, is the deputy regent of Serang.