Viktor Laiskodat

Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat (born 17 February 1965) is an Indonesian politician who is the 8th governor of East Nusa Tenggara.

Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat
8th Governor of East Nusa Tenggara
In office
5 September 2018 – 5 September 2023
DeputyJosef Nae Soi
Preceded byFrans Lebu Raya
Succeeded byAyodhia Kalake (acting)
Member of People's Representative Council
In office
1 October 2014 – 19 December 2017
In office
1 October 2004 – 1 October 2009
ConstituencyEast Nusa Tenggara II
Personal details
Born (1965-02-17) 17 February 1965
Kupang Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
Political partyNasdem

Born in Kupang, he was elected into the Indonesian Parliament, the People's Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilian Rakyat, sometimes referred to as the House of Representatives) from his home district twice in 2004 and 2014, although he did not serve his entire second term because he resigned to run for governor.

Background

Born as the youngest child of Lazarus Laiskodat and Orpha Laiskodat Kase in Oenesu, in the western part of Kupang Regency. He is a Protestant Christian (despite the province's Roman Catholic-majority demographic) and ethnically belongs to the Helong people.[1][2][3][4] After completing his first 12 years of education at Kupang in 1985, he studied law in Jakarta's Indonesian Law Institute (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Hukum Indonesia), completing his bachelor's degree in 2000.[5][6] In 2017, he graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga, earning a master's degree in development studies.[7]

Career

After graduating, Laiskodat worked as a lawyer and law consultant, owning his own law firm (Viktor B. Laiskodat Law Firm). He also became commissioner at several companies.[5][6]

Parliament

He was first elected to the People's Representative Council as a member of Golkar in 2004 from the NTT II electoral district, which included Sumba, Timor, and surrounding islands.[8] In 2009, he did not gain a seat.[9] However, in 2014, he ran as a member of Nasdem Party and won a seat after securing 77,555 votes - third place out of a quota of seven.[10] In his second term at the council, he was part of Commission I and also was the speaker of Nasdem's faction in the parliament.[3] During the 2014 presidential election, he was part of Joko Widodo's campaign team.[11]

In 2017, President of Indonesia Joko Widodo released an executive order (Peraturan Pemerintah Pengganti Undang-Undang) allowing the government to disband mass organizations deemed opposing the state's ideology, with opposition parties and several rights organizations condemning the move.[12] Laiskodat defended the law and accused four then-opposition parties; Great Indonesia Movement Party, Democratic Party, National Mandate Party, and Prosperous Justice Party of supporting establishment of caliphate in Indonesia and undermining national ideology, Pancasila, changing it to Islamism.[13] All four parties denied his accusations and sued him for defamation.[14] Due to both immunity of legislators and his gubernatorial bid in the 2018 gubernatorial election, the case was delayed.[15][16] Islamic groups affiliated with the 212 movement later held protests demanding his arrest and trial for blasphemy.[17]

He resigned from the council to run as governor, and was replaced on 20 March 2018 by Jacki Uli.[18]

Governor

He ran for governorship of East Nusa Tenggara in the 2018 election. Paired with Josef Nae Soi as running mate, he won the four-candidate race with 838,213 votes (35.6%).[19] Laiskodat was sworn in on 5 September 2018.[20] Immediately after being sworn in, Laiskodat announced to media that he would put a moratorium on mining in the province.[21] The moratorium was issued on 14 November 2018, but environmental activists criticized the regulation for only suspending mining activities in the province to evaluate existing regulations, instead of halting mining entirely.[22]

Shortly after he became governor, Laiskodat stated his intent to legalize the brewing of local alcoholic beverages in the province - namely, Moke in Flores and Sopi in Timor.[23] The beverage, which was to be called "Sophia", was planned to begin production in June 2019.[24]

In early 2019, his administration announced plans to close Komodo Island to visitors for a year to allow the government to manage the park better and increase the population of both deer and the lizards.[25] In July 2019, it was confirmed that Komodo Island would be closed for a period to tourism beginning in 2020 to allow a conservation program to be implemented.[26]

Laiskodat has also publicly spoke out in opposition to halal tourism in the area, stating that "tourism has nothing to do with religion."[27] In 2019, the provincial government announced its plans to open a provincial trade office in neighboring East Timor.[28] In October 2019, Laiskodat publicly called for the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology to block access to Facebook in Indonesia, calling for the development of a local social media platform similar to the Chinese internet.[29]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Laiskodat agreed to provide quarantine to 17 East Timor nationals returning from China in East Nusa Tenggara, as East Timor had no quarantine facilities and initial requests to quarantine them in Bali had been rejected by Bali's administration.[30] As the virus spread in Indonesia, he instructed schools to close by 20 March, at which point the province had 38 people under monitoring for the disease.[31]

In February 2023, Laiskodat ordered high schools in the province to begin activities at 5 AM.[32]

Family

He is married to Julie Sutrisno Laiskodat, a graduate of UT Arlington. The couple has three sons.[2]

References
  1. "Daftar Riwayat Hidup Calon Gubernur" (PDF) (in Indonesian). Komisi Pemilihan Umum. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  2. "Mengenal Lebih Dekat Viktor Laiskodat". Radar NTT (in Indonesian). 15 February 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  3. "Profil Viktor Laiskodat". Tirto. Archived from the original on 25 May 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  4. "Jawab Gubernur NTT Viktor Laiskodat Saat Lakukan Sensus Penduduk Online: Saya Suku Helong". Pos Kupang (in Indonesian). Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  5. "Daftar Riwayat Hidup Calon Gubernur" (PDF). infopemilu.kpu.go.id. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  6. "Siapa Victor Laiskodat yang Sebut Gerindra, PAN, PKS, Demokrat Pro Ekstremis?". Republika (in Indonesian). 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  7. Saputra, Imam Yuda. "KAMPUS DI SALATIGA : Selesaikan Pendidikan S2 di UKSW, Cagub NTT Diwisuda". Jateng Pos (in Indonesian). Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  8. "NTT II". pemilu.asia. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  9. "HASIL PEROLEHAN SUARA PESERTA PEMILU TAHUN 2009 NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR" (PDF). rumahpemilu.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  10. "Ini Hasil Rekapitulasi Hasil Pileg untuk DPR RI". Pos Kupang (in Indonesian). 2 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  11. "Victor Laiskodat Masuk Tim Pemenangan Jokowi-JK". Pos Kupang (in Indonesian). 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  12. Costa, Agustinus Beo Da (24 October 2017). "Indonesia passes law to ban organizations deemed against its ideology". Reuters. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  13. "Sebut 4 Partai Dukung Khilafah, Ini Pidato Asli Victor Laiskodat". suara.com (in Indonesian). 8 August 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  14. Widisatuti, Rina (8 August 2017). "Viktor Laiskodat: Politikus NasDem Asal NTT dan Kiprahnya di DPR". Tempo (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  15. Santoso, Audrey (21 November 2017). "Ada Hak Imunitas, Kasus Viktor Laiskodat Tak Bisa Dilanjutkan Polri". detiknews (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  16. Nathaniel, Felix (3 July 2018). "Kasus Viktor Laiskodat akan Dilanjutkan Usai Tahapan Pilkada 2018 - Tirto.ID". tirto.id (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  17. Akhmad, Harits Tryan (24 November 2017). "Di Depan Bareskrim, Massa 2411 Teriak 'Tangkap Viktor Laiskodat'". Okezone (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  18. Sasongko, Joko Panji. "Miryam S Haryani dan Viktor Laiskodat Tak Lagi Anggota DPR". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  19. "Inilah Hasil Pilgub NTT Tahun 2018, Victory-Joss Unggul di 15 Kabupaten". Pos Kupang (in Indonesian). 12 July 2018. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
  20. "Presiden Jokowi Lantik 9 Gubernur dan Wagub Hasil Pilkada 2018". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  21. "Activists welcome NTT governor's plan to halt mining". The Jakarta Post. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  22. de Rosary, Ebed (6 February 2019). "Soal Moratorium Tambang, Gubernur NTT Ditagih Janji Utamakan Pariwisata dan Pertanian". Mongabay (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  23. "Kapolda NTT Dukung Gubernur Viktor Laiskodat Legalkan Miras". KOMPAS (in Indonesian). 6 December 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  24. "Bulan Depan Pemprov NTT Produksi Sophia". Pos Kupang (in Indonesian). 21 May 2019. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  25. "Komodo National Park to be closed one year for habitat restoration". The Jakarta Post. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  26. 'Komodo Island to be closed in 2020: Agency', The Jakarta Post, 18 July 2019.
  27. Hariyadi, Mathias (5 July 2019). "'Halal' tourism on Flores, a provocation for officials and Catholics". asianews.it. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  28. "NTT to Build Trade Office in Timor Leste This Year". medcom.id. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  29. "Laiskodat Minta Facebook Ditutup, Ini Tanggapan Menkominfo". Suara.com (in Indonesian). 29 October 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  30. "'For humanity's sake': NTT agrees to help quarantine Timor Leste citizens fleeing virus". The Jakarta Post. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  31. "COVID-19: East Nusa Tenggara suspends schools and exams for two weeks". The Jakarta Post. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  32. "Gubernur NTT Soal Masuk Sekolah Jam 5 Pagi: Demi Etos Kerja". CNN Indonesia (in Indonesian). 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.


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