November 13, 2025 | 05:11 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Sherly Tjoanda is a product of pragmatism in the 2024 regional elections. A regional head who prioritizes her personal business interests.
Behind a populist image on social media, Sherly Tjoanda Laos displays a dual identity as a public official. She is not only Governor of North Maluku, but also a mining tycoon whose businesses are embedded in the region she leads.
Sherly has a majority shareholding in a number of mining companies operating in North Maluku. One of these is Karya Wijaya, which mines nickel on Gebe Island, Central Halmahera. She owns 71 percent of the company.
Law No. 30/2014 on Government Administration bans regional heads from holding positions in private companies. But this ban is merely a formality. It is true that Sherly is not officially listed as a company director, but as owner she has full authority to direct company policy.
Sherly is an entrepreneur who won the regional head election in 2024. The widow of former Morotai Island Regent Benny Edbert Laso has assets of Rp709 billion, and she is the richest governor in Indonesia.
When a regional head is a major player in the extractive industry sector, there is plenty of scope for misuse of power. They can close their eyes to violations of the law by their own companies and use their authority to protect their personal business interests.
A report by the Mining Advocacy Network issued at the end of October 2025 revealed indications of permit problems at Karya Wijaya. The company is alleged to have managed the mine without using proper procedures, and of failing to build a sediment embankment, resulting in the sea water turning red.
As governor, Sherly should be the overall supervisor of mining activities in her area. Through the Energy and Mineral Resources Office, she has the authority to take action against and report problematic companies to the central government. However, so far, she has said nothing. This suspicious silence has only reinforced suspicions that she is protecting her own interests.
Sherly represents the fractured face of local political pragmatism. According to November 2024 data from the Indonesia Budget Center, almost 45 percent of prospective regional heads had business backgrounds. Political parties, which should be guardians of the people’s aspirations, have transformed into power brokers—proposing candidates based on their wealth, not their capacity or integrity.
The parties always make the same excuse: the cost of regional elections is too high. However, these political costs are a direct result of the practices they themselves foster—money politics, “dawn raids,” and transactions over support. With this state of affairs, local democracy is no longer a venue for representing the people, but an arena for political investment by those with the means.
In resource-rich provinces like North Maluku, the political landscape has transformed into a war for control of mines and forests. Once victorious, these entrepreneur-politicians scramble for “allocations” of permits, projects, and benefit from natural resources. The welfare of the people becomes nothing more than campaign rhetoric, while revenue from regional assets goes into the pockets of a small number of people.
The Sherly Tjoanda Laos case once again emphasizes the fragile nature of our democracy. Direct elections that appear democratic on the surface give rise to local oligarchies.
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