Bahlil Responds to Chances of Being Prabowo's Vice Presidential Candidate, Mentions Golkar's History

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Chairman of Golkar Party, Bahlil Lahadalia, stated that Golkar was not established to make its chairman the president or vice president but rather to realize the nation's ideals.

This was conveyed by Bahlil in response to a question regarding his chances of teaming up with President Prabowo Subianto in the upcoming 2029 Presidential Election.

"Golkar was born not merely to make the chairman president or vice president. This party exists as a political instrument of the state to achieve national aspirations, such as social justice for all Indonesian people, welfare, education, and various others. That's my point," Bahlil said at the Golkar Party's head office in Jakarta on Tuesday (20/10/2026).

Bahlil also noted that throughout Golkar's history, no chairman of the party, which has the banyan tree symbol, has served as president.

"Since its formation in '64 and during the '71 elections, there has never been a chairman who became president. The only one who was a chairman of Golkar before becoming vice president was Mr. Soedharmono," Bahlil remarked.

Furthermore, according to Bahlil, Golkar has its own objectives, which include continuously increasing its number of seats in the House of Representatives (DPR) in every election.

"So it's clear, Golkar is a party that was established before we were born to act as a balancing force among political parties. However, due to the 1999 reform elections, it had to become a political party, but its doctrine and goals did not change; they remained oriented towards welfare politics," he added.

Golkar Supports Prabowo

Previously, Golkar's Deputy Chairman Ahmad Doli Kurnia revealed that the party had decided to support Prabowo in the 2029 Presidential Election, although it has yet to determine who the vice-presidential candidate will be.

"Since late 2024, Golkar's standing position is clear: as we approach the 2029 Presidential Election, we have a candidate named Mr. Prabowo. When asked, why not also announce the vice-presidential candidate?" Doli explained at the DPR Building, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (8/10/2026).

Doli clarified that the nomination of a vice-presidential candidate usually occurs just before the registration of presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the 2029 elections.

Because supporting parties will likely discuss first about the profile of the vice-presidential candidate they will jointly endorse.

Doli also reminded that the selection of a vice-presidential candidate will heavily depend on the presidential candidate.

"It wouldn't make sense if we nominated Mr. Prabowo now, while at the same time, we are all focused on running the government. If we ask him, 'Mr. Prabowo, who do you think the vice president will be?' It will certainly come up at the end. That’s why Golkar hasn’t spoken about the vice presidency yet," Doli stated.

However, Doli acknowledged that Golkar could once again support the Prabowo-Gibran ticket, provided the government from 2024 to 2029 is successful.

He emphasized that Gibran's chances of being nominated by Golkar in 2029 are still open.

"This means if this presidency is successful with the leadership of Mr. Prabowo and Gibran, it deserves to be considered for a joint recommendation again," Doli said.

"But that's for later. We need to work first and succeed in this government. We have decided Mr. Prabowo as the presidential candidate; the vice-presidential candidate will come later," he added.