Dasco's Hopes for PAN in Prabowo's Government
Daily Chairman of the Gerindra Party, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, hopes that the National Mandate Party (PAN) will continue to be part of the coalition supporting President Prabowo Subianto’s government. Dasco expressed this hope in response to a statement by PAN General Chairman Zulkifli Hasan, who described PAN as an eternal coalition partner for Gerindra.
“We have indeed been in coalition for a long time with the hope mentioned earlier, yes, what Mr Zulkifli said. We also hope that this will endure and the coalition will continue to run,” said Dasco while attending PAN’s halal bihalal event at the PAN DPP office in Jakarta on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
PAN is one of the parties in the coalition supporting Prabowo’s government. PAN has been in Prabowo’s winning camp three times in presidential elections, in 2014, 2019, and 2024.
In the 2024 presidential election, PAN coalesced with the Gerindra Party, Golkar Party, Democrat Party, Solidarity Party of Indonesia, Gelora Party, and Crescent Star Party to nominate the presidential candidate pair Prabowo and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. That coalition of parties is united under the Advanced Indonesia Coalition.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad stated that PAN has proven its promise of loyalty in supporting Prabowo. In the Merah Putih Cabinet, Zulkifli was tasked by Prabowo to become the Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, realising various priority programmes such as food self-sufficiency.
“We have also seen evidence that PAN indeed upholds its commitment in supporting President Prabowo in his flagship programmes,” said this Deputy Speaker of the People’s Representative Council.
On the same occasion, Zulkifli emphasised that PAN’s 2026 Eid halal bihalal event was held privately for non-party members. However, Zulkifli said that the private event made an exception for Gerindra Party officials who were still invited. Besides Dasco, Zulkifli also invited State Secretary Minister and Gerindra politician Prasetyo Hadi.
Presidential Special Envoy for Youth Development and Arts Workers Raffi Ahmad also attended as an invited guest. Raffi is known to be close to Gerindra and was once appointed as the Head of the Banten Regional Election Victory Team in 2024 for the pair nominated by Gerindra.
Zulkifli said that the three invited guests represent the coalition relationship between PAN and Gerindra that has been established over the past 15 years. “Because we consider Gerindra as part of us. An eternal coalition for all time,” said this former Forestry Minister.
Zulkifli also assured that PAN will remain loyal to President Prabowo Subianto in good times and bad. He further assured that PAN will ensure the success of all of Prabowo’s government priority programmes, such as food self-sufficiency and energy self-sufficiency.