Gerindra Unaffected by Talk of Early 2029 Election: Focus on Safeguarding Government Programmes

Jakarta, VIVA – Gerindra Party spokesman Sugiat Santoso has responded to a statement by Pro Jokowi (Projo) chairman Budi Arie Setiadi regarding the possibility of an early 2029 general election.

He admitted he did not understand the meaning behind Budi Arie’s remarks about accelerating the 2029 election. However, he denied that the Gerindra Party had begun discussing tactics for the 2029 election.

“As for his statement, only Budi Arie himself knows what he meant. Please ask the person concerned. We are not affected by it,” said Sugiat when contacted on Tuesday, 25 August 2026.

He explained that Gerindra is currently still working to make President Prabowo Subianto’s government programmes a success.

“We are focused on making Mr Prabowo’s programmes a success. There is no discussion about 2029; it is still too far away to be discussed,” Sugiat said.

Sugiat said that making Prabowo’s government programmes a success is currently far more important than discussing the 2029 election. In addition, Gerindra considers it far too early to discuss the 2029 election now.

“What we are focusing on at the moment is securing and safeguarding Mr Prabowo’s programmes that benefit the Indonesian people,” he said.

Meanwhile, via the Instagram account ott_othetrack, Budi Arie was seen sitting together with Indonesia’s 7th President Jokowi at a forum. During the forum, Budi touched on the possibility of political momentum and the 2029 election taking place sooner.

“There are various views and discussions, and in my opinion we will discuss them further later. Including the pros and cons and so on. But I would like to say, earlier I whispered to Mr Jokowi, ‘Sir, why does my instinct say it will be sooner than 2029?’” Budi said, as quoted on Tuesday, 25 August 2026.

He then asked Projo volunteers about their readiness if political acceleration were to occur.

“Do we want it? Not necessarily. We are still talking about the 2029 election, the 2029 election. What if acceleration happens? Are we ready or not?” said Budi.