Apolo Safanpo

Apolo Safanpo (born 24 April 1975) is an Indonesian politician, academic and former bureaucrat who served as the governor of South Papua in an acting capacity from 11 November 2022 until his resignation on 5 August 2024. He also held office in the Ministry of Home Affairs as the minister's expert staff for governance since 9 November 2022. Before working in the bureaucracy, Apolo was an academic in the Cenderawasih University, with his highest office being the university's rector from 2017 until 2022.

Apolo resigned from his position to run for the definitive governor of South Papua in the 2024 Indonesian local elections, with Paskalis Imadawa as his running mate. He won the election with a majority of votes and is set to be installed as governor on 7 February 2025.

Early life and education Safanpo was born on 24 April 1975 in Agats, a town in the Merauke region of the province of Irian Jaya. Safanpo's mother died while he was seven years old. As his father was a soldier who had to be stationed outside Irian Jaya, Safanpo was brought up by his grandparents. Safanpo joined the Union of Catholic University Students of the Republic of Indonesia as well as the university's catholic association during his time in the university. He was also appointed as the assistant to four different lecturers while he was in the fourth semester.

Safanpo continued his studies during his career as a lecturer at the Cenderawasih University. Safanpo received a graduate degree in engineering from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology in 2002 and a doctorate in engineering from the Diponegoro University in 2016.

Aside from his job in the Cenderawasih University, Safanpo also worked as expert advisor, staff, or member on various bureaucratic and political institutions such as the Bintang Mountains parliament, the Environmental Impact Management Agency of Papua, the People's Representative Council of Papua, the Papuan Environmental Agency, the General Elections Commission of Papua, and the Papuan People's Assembly. Safanpo was briefly involved in politics during the 2005 Asmat regent elections, where he was nominated as a candidate for the regent of Asmat by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle

Rector of Cenderawasih University

Background and election Karel Sesa, the rector of the Cenderawasih University who was elected in 2013, died suddenly in 2015 due to medical complications. Upon his death, the Minister of Research and Higher Education Mohammad Nasir appointed Onesimus Sahuleka, the first vice rector of the university, as the acting rector for a two-year term. Despite his relatively long term as acting rector, Sahuleka failed to held an election for a definitive rector during his term, and his term was extended for six months. An election was finally held in September 2017.

The initial candidates consisted of five different academics from different faculties of the university. Further selection by the selection committee resulted in three main candidates for the post: Safanpo from the Faculty of Engineering and Business, Agustinus Fatem from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, and Marthinus Salossa from the Faculty of Law.

After the end of his first term, Safanpo ran again for a second term. In the election, the share of the minister's vote was increased from 19 to 20. Safanpo won the second election with 52 votes — 91% of the votes — and setting aside two other candidates.

Bureaucratic career

Acting Governor of South Papua The Province of South Papua, along with two other provinces, was established through the approval of a bill on new autonomous regions on 25 July 2022. Nominations on the governors of the provinces began immediately as soon as the bill was approved. Chairman of the Cooperatives Council of Papua Paskalis Kossay and member of parliament Komaruddin Watubun nominated Safanpo for the post in early August 2022. Safanpo's candidacy grew stronger over time, mostly due to his involvement in the Papua bill and his Asmat origins. Safanpo's nomination as the Governor of South Papua was further strengthened after the Minister of Home Affairs installed him as the expert staff for governance on 9 November 2022. He was made as the acting governor of South Papua two days later.

Prior to his appointment as the acting governor, assistant to Papua's regional secretary Muhammad Musa'ad had circulated as the forerunner candidate for South Papua's regional secretary, the de facto deputy to the governor. Despite popular calls to appoint Musa'ad for the post, the government appointed Sugiarto, a bureaucrat from the home affairs ministry, for the post. The central government's choice for the post was criticized by various parties in Papua, who demanded that the government should appoint Musa'ad instead. Despite his denial, Safanpo later replaced Sugiarto with Madaremmeng, another bureaucrat from the home affairs ministry on 1 December.

Personal life Safanpo is married to Katharina Ade Irma Suryany Safanpo and has seven children. His older brother, Thomas Eppe Safanpo, was the incumbent deputy regent of Asmat since 2016.

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