Nurhajizah Marpaung

Nurhajizah registered as a candidate for the 2015 Asahan regent election on 3 August 2015, in which she picked Amir Syarifuddin as his running mate.[11] Her candidacy was approved by the General Elections Commission on 24 August[12] and was assigned the ballot number 1 by the commission the next day.[13] She received support from the Great Indonesia Movement Party and the People's Conscience Party.[12]

Nurhajizah was defeated in the election by incumbent Taufan Gama Simatupang. She only obtained 122,247 votes (43.7% of the votes) while the incumbent obtained 157,558 votes (56.3% of the votes).[14] Similar to other retired military officer competing in that year local elections, analysts credited her defeat to the lack of her prominence in the region.[15]

Nurhajizah shaking hands with Joko Widodo after her inauguration as the vice governor of North Sumatra

On 3 August 2015, Governor of North Sumatra Gatot Pujo Nugroho and her wife were arrested due to corruption.[16] His deputy, Tengku Erry Nuradi, was appointed as the acting governor a week later.[17] Erry status was upgraded from acting governor to the definitive governor on 25 May 2016.[18] An internal parliamentary election was then held to elect a new vice governor.[19]

Nurhajizah was nominated for the vice governor's office by Hanura, the main supporting party of Erry Nuradi. Her nomination was shocking as he was not well known in North Sumatra.[20] The opposition party in the province's council, the Prosperous Justice Party, nominated Muhammad Idris Luthfi Rambe as the candidate.[21] At the election held on 24 October 2016, Nurhajizah won with 68 votes out of 87 valid votes from the members of the parliament.[22] She was installed as vice governor on 9 May 2017. She became the first female ever to serve as the vice governor of North Sumatra as well as the fourth female in Indonesia to serve as vice governor.[23]

The gubernatorial election process was disputed by the chairman of the North Sumatra Ulema National Awakening Party, Muhammad Ikhyar Velayati Harahap. The Jakarta Civil Service Arbitration Court ruled in favor of Muhammad. The court demanded the cancellation of the presidential decree that officially made Nurhajizah as the vice governor and to held another internal parliamentary election with the participation of non-parliamentary parties. However, no further actions were taken by the government.[24][25]

A survey conducted by Indo Barometer in February 2018 found out that only 9.8% of the respondents were satisfied with Nurhajizah's performance as the vice governor of North Sumatra, while 34.2% were dissatisfied. Only 8.9% of respondents wanted her to become the next Governor of North Sumatra, while 49.5% were unwilling.[26]

The same survey conducted at the end of her term in June 2018 showed that the number of satisfaction has increased from 12.4%, while the number of dissatisfaction also increased to 67.5%. The number of respondents that wanted her to become the next governor of North Sumatra decreased to 4.4%, while the number of those who were unwilling increased to 76.5%.[27]

Nurhajizah Marpaung as a candidate for the member of the People's Representative Council in 2019

After Nurhajizah's and Erry's term as vice governor and governor ended, both registered themselves as a candidate for the People's Representative Council in the 2019 Indonesian general election. Nurhajizah herself moved from the People's Conscience Party to the Nasdem Party during the parliamentary candidate registration in July 2018.[28] Nurhajizah was registered as a candidate from the North Sumatera 3 constituency, covering Asahan, Simalungun, Dairi, Karo, Langkat, Pakpak Bharat, Batubara, Tanjungbalai, Pematangsiantar, and Binjai.[29] Although her party managed to obtain a seat from the constituency, Nurhajizah did not obtain enough vote for a seat.[30]

Nurhajizah Marpaung as a candidate for the Regent of Asahan in 2020

Nurhajizah attempted to run again in the Asahan regent election after her defeat in the previous election. Nurhajizah picked Henri Siregar, a member of the Asahan parliament from the Prosperous Justice Party, as her running mate.[31][32] The pair received support from their original party, the Prosperous Justice Party[33] and Nasdem Party,[34] as well as other parliamentary party such as the National Awakening Party[35] and the Great Indonesia Movement Party.[36] She and Henri registered to the General Elections Commission on 4 September 2020[37] and their candidacy was declared valid and eligible by the commission twenty days later. The pair were assigned ballot number one.[38]

Nurhajizah lost again in the election to the incumbent. She obtained 101,124 votes (32.82% of the total votes), as opposed to the incumbent who obtained 139,005 votes (45.11% of the total votes).[39] However, Nurhajizah refused to concede and accused that the incumbent won the election by bribing voters and instructed bureaucrats in the regions to vote for the incumbent.[40] Nurhajizah brought the accusations to the constitutional court but was rejected due to lack of legal standing.[41]