Vice President Jusuf Kalla has rejected a proposal made by an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician that he should serve as head of the campaign team for President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's reelection bid in 2019.

The spokesperson for Kalla, Hussain Abdullah, said that the Vice President could not assume the new role as he would be preoccupied with state duties.

"As a Vice President, I believe it would impossible for him to serve as chairman of the team. Once the President is out of town or out of the country, the Vice President must stay in Jakarta, running the government," Hussain said as quoted by tempo.co.

On Tuesday, senior PDI-P politician and Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said that if Kalla decided not to join the 2019 race as Jokowi's running mate, he should be in charge of the campaign team for Jokowi's reelection bid.

Tjahjo said that political parties in the ruling coalition have prepared candidates to serve as the running mate for Jokowi and that Kalla should step aside.

Husain said that he had no information on whether Tjahjo had spoken with Kalla regarding the proposal.

Kalla, who will turn 77 in 2019, earlier said that he would not join the 2019 presidential race and that he would spend more time with his grandchildren.