Kaesang Pangarep (born 25 December 1994) is an Indonesian politician, entrepreneur, and YouTuber. He is the third and youngest child of the 7th President of IndonesiaJoko Widodo. In September 2023, he was appointed as chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI).
He became popular as a blogger called 'diary anak kampung' or 'mister kacang' in 2011. His writing style is considered creative and funny, which explores his personal life and his relation with his family.[7]
Since 2016, Kaesang has been active on YouTube, and many of his videos went viral because of his sense of humor. His YouTube vlogs have become popular; as of May 2017, he has more than 270,000 subscribers. Because of Kaesang's influence, Jokowi created his own YouTube vlog called #JKWVLOG, which gained popularity after posting Jokowi's lunch with King Salman.[8] Kaesang also appeared in the Indonesian television show Mata Najwa [id] to explain his life as the son of Indonesia's president. In 2017, Kaesang released a single song called 'Bersatulah' to promote unity and tolerance among Indonesia's citizens.[9][10] Kaesang Pangarep made a cameo appearance in the Indonesian movie Cek Toko Sebelah.[11][12][13]
Kaesang is active in the culinary business, owning a chain of banana-centered outlets operating in several cities in Indonesia.[14] He also created a clothing line, featuring images of tadpoles.[15] In addition, he is active as a marketer in a 2017-launched startup called Madhang, which works with culinary SMEs and households.[16] In 2019, he co-founded GK HEBAT, a business incubator focusing on SMEs in the culinary sector. He became the company's CEO. Among other investments, the firm took an 8 percent stake in a publicly listed frozen shrimp products company for Rp 92 billion (~USD 6.5 million).[17]
The Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) voiced its support for Kaesang shortly afterwards, along with the Gerindra Party.[19][20] He officially became member of the PSI on 23 September 2023, and was appointed as party chairman two days later on 25 September 2023.[21]
After the general election, Kaesang was also named as a potential candidate for mayoral elections in Bekasi and Surabaya on top of Depok.[23] He was also initially considered as a candidate for the Jakarta gubernatorial election, but encountered an age issue – Kaesang would be 29 years and 11 months on the date of the election at 27 November 2024, while the minimum age was 30.[24] However, on 30 May 2024, the Supreme Court of Indonesia ruled that the age limitation applied to the date of taking office, not the date of election.[25]
After creating a video responding to children chanting 'kill Ahok' in a Ramadan Rally, Kaesang was reported to the police for blasphemy and hate speech.[26][27] However, the police found no evidence of blasphemy and dropped the case.[28]
Leaders of Indonesian political parties
