Husin Yusuf

Husin Yusuf was born on 25 June 1955 in the village of Ruak, in South Aceh Regency. After completing middle school at a madrasa equivalent, he began to study to become a religious studies teacher, completing a course in 1975.^[1] At some point, he joined the Free Aceh Movement as a militant.^[2] Within GAM, he was active in the vicinity of Tapaktuan, i.e. in South Aceh.^[3]

In 2007–2008, Yusuf took part in the inaugural regency election for South Aceh Regency. After a first round where thirteen pairs of candidates took part,^[4] Yusuf defeated civil servant Azwir in the runoff after securing 54,921 votes (54.3%).^[5]

In August 2009, Yusuf attended the Aceh Cultural Fair in Banda Aceh where individual regencies set up their own stands. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended the event, and was scheduled to visit South Aceh's stand but skipped it due to a mistake by the protocol officer. Yusuf, who was at the stand wearing South Aceh's traditional clothing, removed his outfit and departed the event in anger while repeatedly stating his disappointment. A group of South Aceh students later held a protest against Acehnese governor Irwandi Yusuf over the incident.^[6][7] As regent, Yusuf also issued a controversial bylaw prohibiting municipal employees from having beards. Yusuf justified the ban by stating that South Aceh "was part of Indonesia, not Iran".^[8]

Although he considered running for reelection in the 2012 regency election, he ultimately did not participate. His tenure expired on 10 March 2013, and he was succeeded as regent by Teuku Sama Indra.^[9][10]