Jakarta – President of Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto, encouraged legislative candidates (Caleg) and regional head candidates (Cakada) who were not elected in the 2024 elections to keep striving and never give up.

“So, my friends, especially those who were not elected in the regional elections, as your party chairman has said, never give up,” said Prabowo during the grand celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Golkar Party at the Sentul International Convention Center (SICC), Bogor, West Java, on Thursday (12/12).

He noted that losing in a political contest is normal. Prabowo reflected on his own experiences of defeat in previous presidential elections.

Prabowo viewed those losses as part of a learning journey and a necessary process in life.

“That’s why it took me a long time to become President of Indonesia. I see it as part of a forging process, part of education. Honestly, it’s tiring—20 years of contests: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, and finally 2024. But maybe that’s the journey I had to take,” Prabowo said.

“Fighting and falling—that’s normal. What’s not normal is standing up again and fighting once more. That’s the lesson I’ve lived through,” he added.

Prabowo also agreed with the remarks of Golkar Party Chairman Bahlil Lahadalia, who suggested that the nation’s democratic system needs reform.

“I find the ideas of the Golkar Party Chairman interesting. I believe we must improve our system, and we should not be ashamed to admit that this system might be too costly, right? Even the faces of the winners look weary. If the winners are exhausted, imagine those who lost. We must have the courage to correct ourselves,” Prabowo concluded. (RR)