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Syamsul Arifin
Syamsul Arifin
	Arifin in 2008
Governor of North Sumatra
	In office; 16 June 2008 – 21 March 2011
Preceded by	Rudolf Pardede
Succeeded by	Gatot Pujo Nugroho
Personal details
Born	22 September 1952; Medan, Indonesia
Died	17 October 2023 (aged 71); Jakarta, Indonesia
Political party	Golkar
Education	Islamic University of North Sumatra [id]

Syamsul Arifin (22 September 1952 – 17 October 2023) was an Indonesian politician. A member of Golkar, he served as Governor of North Sumatra from 2008 to 2011.^[1]

In the movie The Act of Killing we can see his friendship with the executioner Anwar Congo as well as Arifin praising the use of "preman", i.e gangsters, to rule Indonesia.

Political Career

He started his political career by joining the Golkar Party. He was appointed as a member of the Langkat Regency Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD) in the period 1977-1982 and 1982-1987. After gaining experience in the DPRD, Syamsul Arifin was then trusted to lead Langkat Regency as Regent for two periods, namely 1999-2004 and 2004-2008. During his tenure as Regent, he managed to achieve a number of achievements, such as the best village award at provincial level. Governor of North Sumatra: The peak of Syamsul Arifin's political career was when he was elected Governor of North Sumatra in the 2008-2012. He became the first governor of North Sumatra to be elected directly by the people, marking a new era of democracy in this province.

Corruption

Syamsul has been officially dismissed from his position as Governor of North Sumatra by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. With the issuance of this Presidential Decree, the Deputy Governor of North Sumatra, Gatot Pujo Nugroho, who is currently appointed as Acting Governor (Plt) will soon be appointed as governor. The remaining time on duty is not that long, because in March 2013 the North Sumatra gubernatorial election will be held, and according to the mid-2013 schedule the elected governor will be inaugurated. Syamsul was found guilty in the Langkat Regency Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBD) corruption case which cost the state IDR 98.7 billion in the use of the 2000-2007 APBD. The Supreme Court sentenced him to six years in prison.^[2]

Family

Syamsul married Fatimah Habiebie on May 26 1974 and was blessed with three children, including Beby Arbiana and Aisia Samira, and Farid Nugraha who has died. His younger brother is Syah Afandin who currently serves as Acting Regent of Langkat.