Tito Karnavian: 2026 Regional Government Excellence Award Aims to Recognise Creative and Outstanding Local Leaders
JAKARTA - Interior Minister Tito Karnavian stated that the 2026 Regional Government Excellence Award event is held to reward local leaders who have succeeded in various strategic sectors, from unemployment handling to creative local financing methods.
This was conveyed by Tito during the annual 2026 Regional Government Excellence Award event for the Sulawesi region at Hotel Claro in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Friday, 29 May 2026.
“This event is indeed an award for regional leaders excelling in four areas: unemployment, poverty, stunting, inflation control, and creative financing. In short, which local leaders are most adept at raising funds,” Tito said.
“One trillion rupiah has been allocated for rewards or incentives. It’s not government aid; financially, it’s fiscal incentive, known as DID, or Regional Incentive Fund,” he added.
According to Tito, the award scheme is now structured regionally to ensure smaller-fiscal-capacity regions have fair competition.
“After internal review at the Ministry of Home Affairs, if judged nationally, winners would typically be large cities or regencies. Smaller ones lose,” he said.
“West Sulawesi, for example, has weak APBD (regional budget). Southeast Sulawesi is also weak. Even with a strong governor, it’s impossible to compete against West Java, Central Java, or Jakarta with a Rp 90 trillion budget,” he noted.
Thus, the ministry has divided evaluations into six regions across Indonesia. After Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi region is now holding the award.
“That’s why we’ve implemented regional evaluations,” Tito said.
He noted assessments are conducted quantitatively using official data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the Regional Government Information System (SIPD), ensuring objectivity and transparency.
“Clearly, we’re measuring quantifiable issues like unemployment, poverty, and inflation control. Data from BPS can’t be faked,” he said.
Tito also admitted he doesn’t know the winners before the announcement.
“I don’t know who won, honestly. If anyone didn’t get it, I apologise. Numbers don’t lie,” he said.
“Secondly, to prove that we’re concerned about regional leaders facing legal issues. Not all are bad. This event shows many are doing good work,” Tito added.
Closing his speech, Tito congratulated award recipients and urged all local leaders to improve performance.
“Congratulations to the awardees. Keep and improve your performance. For those not fortunate, there are two more waves. We’ll meet again next round,” he concluded.