T

he Riau General Elections Commission (KPUD) has officially opened registration for its Sept. 9 gubernatorial election.

Two tickets ' Herman Abdullah-Agus Widayat and Annas Ma'mun-Arsyad Juliandi 'Andi' Rachman ' registered on Thursday.

Herman was Pekanbaru mayor from 2000 until 2010, while Agus is the incumbent mayor of Dumai.

The Herman-Agus ticket has been nominated by 10 political parties, including the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party, the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Labor Party, the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) and Concern for Nation Functional Party (PKPN), accounting for 18.66 percent of seats at the Riau legislature.

'If I win, my main focus will be to develop the education and healthcare sectors as well as to empower people economically. Riau is rich in natural resources. We just have to make the most of the available resources to progress,' Herman told a cheering crowd.

He said he designed programs that would be carried out the moment he is elected, such as providing scholarships to 100 children in Riau to further their studies until post-graduate school. 'The 100 doctoral graduates will be placed in every regency and municipality to help improve human resources and people's welfare,' said Herman.

'The quality of infrastructure, especially roads, which remain a concern, must be improved. It would be a pity if our natural resources did not provide maximum returns for the people.'

The Annas-Andi ticket was nominated by the Golkar Party. Annas is incumbent Rokar Hilir regent and also chairman of Golkar's Riau chapter, while Andi is a member of the Golkar faction at the House of Representatives from the Riau I electoral district.

'We will develop Riau as much as possible, such as by building schools, community health centers, raising teaching standards and providing free healthcare to underprivileged residents. Poverty alleviation is at top of our priority list. We will provide housing to underprivileged residents. We will build at least four home in every village in Riau for them,' said Annas.

He also pledged to distribute Rp 250 billion (US$25.34 million) to 12 regencies and municipalities across the province to help alleviate poverty.

'Riau provincial budget has more than Rp 8 trillion so it is appropriate if Rp 3 trillion is disbursed to the
regions,' he said.

Riau KPUD head Tengku Edi Sabli said the names of candidates who met the requirements would be announced in early June provided there were no changes.