Political investors: Political elite oligarchy and mastery of regional resources in Indonesia

The political investors in the regional head election in Indonesia are an interesting phenomenon to be studied, as not all candidates for regional head, whether governors, regents, or mayors, have the capital to financially support their candidacy. Meanwhile, the nomination fee from has been increasing. For instance, in one of the regencies in Indonesia, the cost has reached 30 billion rupiah. This provides opportunities for regional head candidates to be financed by other people or business groups, known as political investors. This research was conducted to determine the extended role of political investors in regional head elections. This descriptive qualitative research collected data through in-depth interviews and observations as well as online and paper documents. The results showed that political investors play an essential role in enabling regional head candidates to win, and that they in turn benefited from the elections.