Sandiaga Uno
Official portrait, 2020
13th Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy
Assumed office
23 December 2020
PresidentJoko Widodo
DeputyAngela Tanoesoedibjo
Preceded byWishnutama
14th Vice Governor of Jakarta
In office
16 October 2017 – 18 September 2018[1]
GovernorAnies Baswedan
Preceded byDjarot Saiful Hidayat
Succeeded byAhmad Riza Patria
Personal details
Born (1969-06-28) 28 June 1969 (age 54)
Rumbai, Pekanbaru, Riau, Indonesia
Political partyPPP
Other political
affiliations
Spouse
Nur Asia
​
(m. 1996)​
Children3
Alma materWichita State University
George Washington University
Pelita Harapan University[2]
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • Investor
  • Politician

Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno (born 28 June 1969) is an Indonesian businessman, investor and politician who is the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, and was the Deputy Governor of Jakarta. He was elected along with Anies Baswedan in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election after defeating incumbent pair Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (widely known as "Ahok") and Djarot Saiful Hidayat. He resigned the office to run as Prabowo Subianto's running mate for the 2019 Indonesian presidential election.

A graduate of George Washington University, Sandiaga worked for several companies and rose in rank before founding his own business, which led him to become one of the richest people in Indonesia. In 2015, he resigned from his companies to join Gerindra. Upon his candidacy as vice president, he also renounced his membership in Prabowo's Gerindra as part of the deal with coalition parties.[3]

Career

Business

Sandiaga Uno graduated from Wichita State University in 1990 and from George Washington University with an MBA in 1992, paid by William Soerjadjaja, because his mother personally knew the Astra International group founder.[4][better source needed] He began his career with Summa Bank in 1990. In 1994, he joined MP Group Holding Limited as an investment manager. The following year, he began working for NTI Resources Ltd in Canada and worked as an Executive Vice President in the company. The 1997 financial crisis hit NTI Resources Ltd hard and caused it to go into administration, leaving him unemployed.[5]

In 1997, he co-founded PT. Recapital Advisors with his high school friend, Rosan Roeslani. the following year, he co-founded Saratoga Capital with Edwin Soeryadjaya, son of William Soerjadjaja. Both businesses continue to flourish today. Listed as 29th richest man in Indonesia according to Forbes magazine in 2009,[5] he continued to grow his businesses, buying a controlling (51%) stake in Mandala Airlines[6] in May 2011. He was listed as 47th richest man in Indonesia according to Forbes in 2013.[7]

In 2016, his name appeared on the list of Panama Papers, although he denies he evaded taxes or broke the law.[8]

Politics

Uno as Vice Governor of Jakarta, 2017.

He decided to leave the business world, entering politics in mid-2015. In the period from April to July 2015, he officially resigned from various positions in 16 subsidiaries of Saratoga and Recapital.[9] Joining the Gerindra party as vice chairman of the board of supervisors, he was catapulted to the second highest office after Prabowo.[10] His name began to be considered by Gerindra to be nominated in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Late in 2015, several volunteer community support groups began to emerge, including "Sahabat Sandiaga Uno" (Friends of Sandiaga Uno or SSU).[11] He began making visits to various locations within Jakarta. In early 2016, Sandiaga Uno, with assistance of his supporters, began to intensify visits to various locations in Jakarta. Performing visits to up to 7 different locations a day, for the 6-month period from February to August 2016. The rumour of his candidacy intensified, as news leaked of the desire of 7 political parties to form a grand coalition in August 2016.[12]

This desire was not realised following the withdrawal the ruling PDI-P party, which threw its weight behind incumbent governor Ahok, along with Golkar, Hanura and Nasdem. The Democratic Party, PAN, PKB and PPP then announced it planned to nominate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (son of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) for the position.[13]

The remaining parties, Gerindra and PKS, agreed to remain in the coalition, selecting former Education Minister Anies Baswedan as their candidate, and Sandiaga Uno as his running mate. Sandiaga said, he had suggested Baswedan to Prabowo because he felt that Baswedan would be more suitable for the position.[14]

Following victory in the election, which an editorial described as "the most polarizing and most divisive the nation has ever seen in Indonesian political history,"[15] and the incarceration of Ahok, he was made deputy governor on 16 October 2017.[16]

In 2018, he was accused of paying opposition parties PAN and PKS Rp 500 billion (US$35 million) each to approve him as Prabowo Subianto's vice presidential candidate for the 2019 presidential election.[17] Regardless, he declared his resignation from his office to participate in the election on 10 August 2018.[18] The resignation was made official on 18 September 2018.[1]

After Prabowo's defeat in the 2019 election, Sandiaga did not hold any office until he was appointed as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy on 22 December 2020.[19] He was made a Gerindra member again after that, but later resigned from Gerindra again on 24 April 2023.[20][21] He joined the PPP on 14 June 2023.[22]

Teaching career

There were multiple reports in Indonesia that Sandiaga Uno was appointed as a "distinguished research professor in residence" at George Washington University.[23] However, he already denied it, claiming that his appointment for the title was for his contribution in entrepreneur researches instead from teaching[24]

Health

On 7 December 2020, Sandiaga Uno and his wife tested positive for COVID-19.[25]

Controversies

Paradise Papers

See also: Paradise Papers

In November 2017 an investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism cited his name in the list of politicians named in "Paradise Papers" allegations.[26] He was claimed to have own an offshore company named NTI resources, as well as several shell companies in British Virgin Islands. Regarding this, the Indonesian Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani, vowed to study the legitimacy of the paper, and will take an appropriate measure if there was any wrongdoing conducted.[27]

Program

Even before his appointment to the deputy governorship, Sandiaga proceeded to execute plans mentioned during his campaigning. In early October, an entrepreneurship program dubbed OK OCE (One Kecamatan, One Center for Entrepreneurship), which he had called for during the election, was initiated with his elder brother Indra initially acting as president, although the following day he was replaced due to nepotism concerns.[28][29]

References

  1. ^ a b "Dirjen Otonomi Daerah: Disetujui Presiden Jokowi, Sandiaga Uno Resmi Tak Jabat Wagub DKI | Kabar24". Bisnis.com. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Cawapres Sandiaga Uno Ujian Disertai S3, Netizen Malah Singgung Jokowi dan SBY". Tribun Pontianak. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  3. ^ Kristian Erdianto; Dylan Aprialdo Rachman (9 August 2018). "Jadi Cawapres Prabowo, Sandiaga Keluar dari Gerindra" [Becomes Prabowo's Running Mate, Sandiaga Exits Gerindra]. Kompas.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 21 January 2019. ...Prabowo mengaku meminta Sandiaga untuk mundur sebagai kader Gerindra agar bisa diterima oleh dua parpol lain... [...Prabowo claimed to ask Sandiaga to renounce as Gerindra cadre to be accepted by two other parties...]
  4. ^ "Sisi Kelam Pengusaha Muda Sandiaga Uno". 23 May 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b Grahadyarini, BM Lukita (4 September 2008). "Kebangkitan Hidup Sandiaga Uno". Kompas (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2010.
  6. ^ Suhendra (20 May 2011). "Sandiaga Uno Berharap Mandala Bisa Terbang Lagi Juni". detikFinance. Archived from the original on 21 May 2011.
  7. ^ "Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno". Forbes. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  8. ^ Nailufar, Nibras Nada (6 April 2016). Djumena, Erlangga (ed.). "Sandiaga Uno Benarkan Perusahaannya Ada di 'Panama Papers'". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  9. ^ Narita, Indrastiti (4 June 2015). Ali, Fidel (ed.). "Sandiaga Uno Lepaskan 16 jabatan di Saratoga". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  10. ^ Ningtyas, Ika (7 May 2015). "Tinggalkan Bisnis, Sandiaga Uno Akhirnya Masuk Gerindra". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  11. ^ Rudi, Alsadad (11 October 2015). Afrianti, Desy (ed.). "Datang ke 'Car Free Day', Sandiaga Uno Sapa Pendukungnya". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  12. ^ Adyatama, Egi (8 August 2016). "Pilkada DKI, 7 Partai Bentuk Koalisi Kekeluargaan Lawan Ahok". Tempo (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  13. ^ Carina, Jessi (25 October 2016). Rastika, Icha (ed.). "Agus-Sylvi Nomor 1, Ahok-Djarot Nomor 2, dan Anies-Sandiaga Nomor 3". Kompas (in Indonesian). Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  14. ^ Yulika, Nila Chrisna (26 September 2016). Sunariyah, Sunariyah (ed.). "Mengapa Sandiaga Uno Berikan Posisi Cagub ke Anies Baswedan?". Liputan 6 (in Indonesian). Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  15. ^ Westcott, Ben. "Religious tensions rise in Jakarta as crucial vote gets underway". CNN. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Supporters greet new Jakarta leaders at Sunda Kelapa Mosque". The Jakarta Post. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  17. ^ "Political uproar after Sandiaga Uno accused of paying PAN & PKS IDR500 billion each to be Prabowo's VP pick". Coconuts Jakarta. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Sandiaga Uno resmi mundur dari wakil gubernur DKI". VIVA. 10 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Jokowi Resmi Tunjuk Sandiaga Uno Jadi Menteri Parekraf". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Sandi Uno Pamit dari Gerindra!". Rmol.id. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  21. ^ "Dasco: Sebelum Pamit Sandi Uno Sampaikan Surat". Rmol.id. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  22. ^ Akbar, Adrial. "Sandiaga Uno Masuk PPP: Pembangunan Harus Diteruskan". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Sandiaga to get distinguished research professor title from alma mater". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  24. ^ Antony, Noval Dhwinuari. "Sandiaga Uno Klarifikasi Soal Gelar Profesor dari AS". detiknews. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Sandiaga Uno Positif COVID-19, Isolasi Bareng Istri". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  26. ^ "Explore The Politicians in the Paradise Papers". ICIJ. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  27. ^ "Perusahaan Prabowo dan Sandiaga tersangkut Paradise Papers". Tempo.co. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  28. ^ Haq, Muhammad Fida Ul (11 October 2017). "Kakak Sandiaga akan Pimpin Program OK OCE, Dapat Dana APBD Rp 1,5 M". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  29. ^ "Keputusan Sandiaga Uno Copot Kakaknya Dari Ketua OK OCE Diapresiasi". Wartakota (in Indonesian). Kompas Gramedia. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
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