Kaesang Pangarep Eyes DPR Seat in 2029 General Election
Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) Chairman Kaesang Pangarep has revealed his intention to run as a legislative candidate for the House of Representatives (DPR RI) in the 2029 General Election. Kaesang announced his plan to party cadres during a Regional Coordination Meeting of the PSI Surakarta City Regional Leadership Council on Saturday evening, 25 July 2026.
On that occasion, Kaesang said he did not wish to give much direction to PSI Surakarta cadres as it had already been conveyed by the regional leadership. He simply asked all cadres to strengthen their presence within the community.
The youngest son of former president Joko Widodo gave examples that PSI cadres must actively participate in community social activities, from attending religious study gatherings to offering condolences when a resident passes away.
Kaesang also asked PSI Surakarta cadres to maintain cohesiveness, especially in facing preparations for the 2029 General Election. He reminded prospective legislative candidates to avoid internal competition that would ultimately harm the party.
During the meeting, Kaesang asked cadres intending to run as candidates for the Surakarta City Regional House of Representatives in the 2029 General Election to raise their hands. Seeing quite a number of cadres raise their hands, he said the enthusiasm of cadres wanting to run was an asset for PSI to increase its vote share. However, he asked the prospective PSI candidates to later divide their political work territories to prevent vote grabbing between candidates.
According to Kaesang, conflict between legislative candidates within the same party often occurs because they share the same voter base. He said this situation must be avoided from the outset. Kaesang also asked cadres who are not running as candidates to continue supporting the party’s struggle and help PSI win the 2029 General Election.
He stressed that PSI’s targets in Surakarta must be accompanied by the collective work of all cadres. The message he conveyed, according to Kaesang, was not as the party’s general chairman but because he himself will run as a DPR RI legislative candidate. He stated he will run from the Central Java 5 Electoral District, which covers the areas of Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Boyolali, and Klaten.
However, Kaesang confirmed that his political work territory in preparation for the 2029 General Election is only in Surakarta City, as other areas have been divided among other PSI cadres. He noted that he is not permitted to touch other areas such as Boyolali, Klaten, or Sukoharjo, but he hopes PSI’s target of entering the national parliament in 2029 can be achieved.
On a separate note, Kaesang said his visit to Surakarta was actually related to Persis Solo’s agenda. However, because it coincided with the PSI Surakarta City Regional Coordination Meeting, he took the opportunity to announce his candidacy plan as a DPR RI member.