I Wayan Koster (born 20 October 1962) is an Indonesian politician who is the 10th governor of Bali. Before becoming governor, he was a member of the People's Representative Council representing the province. A three-term parliamentarian representing his home province, Koster studied at

Bandung Institute of Technology The Bandung Institute of Technology ( id, Institut Teknologi Bandung, abbreviated as ITB) is a national research university located in Bandung, Indonesia. Since its establishment in 1920, ITB has been consistently recognized as Indonesia's premi ...

and

Jakarta State University State University of Jakarta ( Indonesian: ''Universitas Negeri Jakarta'', commonly abbreviated as UNJ) is a public university in Jakarta, Indonesia. Founded in 1964 as the Jakarta Institute of Teaching and Education (IKIP Jakarta), it was later co ...

before becoming a lecturer and eventually joining

PDI-P The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle ( id, Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan, PDI-P) is an Indonesian political party, and the party of the current President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. The PDI-P was founded and is currently led by Me ...

Background

Koster was born in the town of

Singaraja Singaraja is a port town in northern Bali, Indonesia, which serves as the seat of Buleleng Regency. The name is Indonesian for "Lion King" (from Tamil ''singam'' and ''raja''). It is just east of Lovina, and is also the centre of Buleleng Distric ...

on 20 October 1962. He completed his first twelve years of education there, graduating high school in 1981. Afterward, he moved to Bandung to study at the

, from where he graduated in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Later on, he received a masters from the International Golden Institute (1995) and a doctorate from

(1999).

Career

After earning his bachelor's degree, Koster worked at the

Ministry of Education and Culture The Ministry of Education and Culture is a Cabinet position in the governments of several nations. In some nations the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture are separate departments; in others, the Ministry of Education and Culture als ...

as a researcher between 1988 and 1995. He then became a non-permanent lecturer at Tarumanegara University,

Pelita Harapan University Pelita Harapan University ( id, Universitas Pelita Harapan, UPH) is a private Evangelical coeducational higher education institution run by the Pelita Harapan Education Foundation ( id, Yayasan Pendidikan Pelita Harapan) in Lippo Village, Tang ...

and an economic institute.

Parliament

By 2003, Koster was a specialist staff member in

. In 2004, he ran for a seat in the People's Representative Council as part of

. During the campaigning process, he headed a committee for a rally supporting the party in his hometown. Participants of the rally clashed with that of another rally supporting

Golkar ) , foundation = , youth = AMPG (Golkar Party Young Force) , women = KPPG (Golkar Party Women's Corps) , newspaper = ''Suara Karya'' (1971–2016) , headquarters = Jakarta , ideology ...

, resulting in two deaths from the latter group. Koster received a

civil suit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil act ...

due to his position. Regardless, Koster secured a seat in the parliament after the 2004 election, and was sworn in on 1 October that year. After being reelected in 2009 with 185,901 votes, Koster was investigated by the

Corruption Eradication Commission Corruption Eradication Commission ( id, Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi), abbreviated as KPK, is an Indonesian government agency established to prevent and fight corruption in the country. Firli Bahuri, an active police general, is the current ch ...

several times during his second term. He was questioned in 2011 regarding a case in the education ministry, in 2013 regarding another case related to the National Sports Week, and in 2014 about the cases of Akil Mochtar and the Hambalang sports complex. He was reelected for a third term in 2014, winning 260,342 votes. This was the most votes for Bali candidates and the third-most votes won by a parliamentary candidate nationally, after fellow

members Karolin Margret Natasa and

Puan Maharani Puan Maharani Nakshatra Kusyala Devi (born 6 September 1973) is an Indonesian politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who is serving as the current speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR), Indonesia's lower ho ...

. During most of his time in parliament, Koster was part of the tenth commission covering education, culture, sports, tourism, and the creative economy. He had voiced opposition against a 2014 law that would alter the selection of the parliamentary speaker from appointment by the largest party in an election to that of a parliamentary vote. He also voiced his support for a law which would allow Balinese villages to pick between being a "cultural village" or a standard village. He was eventually retasked to the fifth commission on public works, transportation and rural development.

Governor of Bali

In 2018, Koster ran in the gubernatorial elections for Bali, resigning from his parliament seat in order to do so. Running with Tjok Oka Artha Ardhana Sukawati, the pair won with 57.68 percent of the votes. He was sworn in on 5 September 2018. During the campaigning period, Koster stated that he wished to alter the family planning program in Bali by changing the recommended number of children from two to four in order to fit Balinese traditions. Koster announced a ban on plastic, as stipulated in Gubernatorial Regulation (Pergub) No. 97/2018, expressing hope that the policy would lead to a 70 percent decline in Bali's marine plastics within a year. In 2021, he was one of twelve individuals named in a suit by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, known locally as the "Hare Krishna") for allegedly hindering worship activities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koster, I Wayan 1962 births Governors of Bali Living people People from Buleleng Regency Indonesian Hindus Members of the People's Representative Council, 2004 Members of the People's Representative Council, 2009 Members of the People's Representative Council, 2014 Bandung Institute of Technology alumni Jakarta State University alumni