Jakarta. Kaesang Pangarep on Friday called out an executive of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) for making a baseless claim that his father, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, had asked the party to nominate him for the Jakarta gubernatorial election.

Kaesang said the false claim by PKS Secretary-General Aboe Bakar Al Habsyi is a smear campaign against his father.

"The PKS secretary-general’s remarks weren’t based on facts. Mr. Jokowi has never offered my name to political parties. This is a smear campaign and nothing more than a public lie," Kaesang said in a statement.

Kaesang is the chairman of the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), which currently has eight seats in the Jakarta Legislative Council.

"PSI is the incumbent party in Jakarta. Many other parties want to collaborate with us and seek our support for their candidates,” Kaesang said.

"As the chairman, I have the full authority to decide PSI’s candidate picks. Stop dragging the president’s name into this because it’s me who is the party chairman."

Kaesang was initially rumored to have sought a nomination to become a running mate for Anies Baswedan, who is supported by PKS for reelection as Jakarta governor. He later dismissed the rumor and said he had never communicated with Anies about the election.

Kaesang's elder brother, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was recently elected as the vice president and will assume office in October. Their sister, Kahiyang Ayu, is married to Medan Mayor Bobby Nasution, who has secured the nomination for the North Sumatra gubernatorial election from the Golkar Party and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).