The article unravels the roles of buyas (charismatic scholar of the community) in coping with
confidence issues amongst politicians who competed in the Limapuluh Kota Regency’ 2015 Regional
Election in West Sumatra. The study aims to answer the following questions: first, what are the
politicians’ motives to seek audience from the buya? Second, what are rituals and statements that the
buya provide? As part of a qualitative research conducted within the Regency, the data were collected
through in-depth interviews to four buyas and four candidates. The interview results were then
analyzed through qualitative approaches. The result of the study indicates that politicians and their
canvassers performed ‘political safari’ by visiting buyas upon becoming candidate hopefuls or being
pronounced candidates by the Election Committee. It is worth noting that although buyas never
rejected any politician or canvasser who wished to meet them, they were never involved in direct
campaigns with the candidates or canvassers. In essence, buyas provide politicians a sense of legitimacy
at a time when they are losing confidence in themselves. Eventually, as in all political competitions,
there will always be victors and losers.
Keywords: Buya, Politics, West Sumatran Regional Elections, Confidence, Charisma