However, just months after entering the second year of Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, public discourse is dominated not by outcomes but by continuity. The conversation has shifted prematurely to a second term in 2029 and a future arriving too soon while the present remains unfinished.

In daily governance, the public faces a series of policies that remain insufficiently explained. Adjustments to subsidies and living costs are felt unevenly, bureaucratic reforms lack measurable indicators and the slow handling of major legal cases has left citizens being asked for patience more frequently than they are invited to evaluate. At this present stage, government communication appears more defensive than accountable, and the gap between promises and lived experience is becoming increasingly visible.

Under these conditions, the political elite has moved swiftly. Faith-based parties such as the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) have openly declared their support for Prabowo in a 2029 reelection.

Notably, these endorsements were not accompanied by transparent assessments of government performance, nor were they framed as rewards for policy success. They emerged instead as early political maneuvers.

In the logic of power, early support is rarely cost-free and almost always tied to bargaining. The motives are transparent. In the short term, such support secures cabinet positions and forestalls exclusion from future reshuffles. In the longer term, the calculation is strategic: positioning within the next configuration of power, including the vice presidency.

Early endorsement functions as a signal to the palace that these parties seek a primary role in shaping the future order. Such a maneuver gains sharper meaning when viewed alongside the earlier remarks made by former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo regarding a possible Prabowo-Gibran Rakabuming Raka ticket in 2029.