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View all search resultsMajor political parties unfazed by Kaesang’s bid for House seat
Major parties have largely brushed aside the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman Kaesang Pangarep's decision to run for a legislative seat in the next race in 2029, a move that analysts say reflects the party’s serious push to break into the House of Representatives.
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Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chair Kaesang Pangarep (right) puts a party jacket on former Nasdem Party politician Rusdi Masse (left) on Jan. 29 during the opening of the PSI's national working meeting in Makassar, South Sulawesi. (Antara/Hasrul Said)
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ajor political parties have largely brushed aside the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) chairman Kaesang Pangarep's decision to run for a legislative seat in the next race in 2029, a move that analysts say reflects the party’s serious push to break into the House of Representatives.
Kaesang, the youngest son of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, announced his early bid last Saturday that will mark his electoral debut since he first entered politics in 2023, when he joined PSI and was named chairman days later.
The 31-year-old entrepreneur-turned-politician will contest for a seat from Central Java's electoral district V, which includes his hometown Surakarta, where his father and brother, Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, once served as mayor.
The district, which also covers Sukoharjo, Klaten and Boyolali, has long been considered a stronghold of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party that propelled Jokowi to the presidency but later became a rival after a political split over the last presidential election two years ago.
But the constituency has also become a key battleground for other major parties, with the country’s oldest party Golkar and President Prabowo Subianto’s Gerindra Party securing the second- and third-highest vote shares in the 2024 legislative election.
Over the week, political parties have largely played down the significance of Kaesang’s bid, arguing that his entry into the 2029 legislative race would not pose a threat and could instead inject new energy into the democratic contest.
Gerindra politician Sugiat Santoso said his party respected Kaesang’s decision, describing his bid for a legislative seat as a normal part of democratic competition and a political right afforded to every citizen.
