Indonesian Vice President Resigns Amid Educational Qualifications Scandal

One of the assistants of Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka announced on Wednesday that Gibran had submitted his resignation, a move that threatens to split a major political alliance and heightens risks of political instability in the country with Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Gibran, 39, the son of former President Joko Widodo, faced intense criticism last month after rulings by the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court stated that his educational documents did not meet the requirements for candidacy in elections.

Budi Arie Setiadi, a presidential advisor, told Reuters that Gibran submitted his resignation to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto earlier on Wednesday.

In a separate development, two sources in the Senate, which will oversee the approval of his resignation and the selection of a replacement, told Reuters that he would submit his resignation letter to the Senate on Thursday morning.

Late on Wednesday, Prabowo delivered a lengthy speech at an event for his political party. He did not mention Gibran’s resignation.

The resignation comes amid growing signs of tension in the political alliance between Prabowo, a powerful former general, and Widodo, a popular leader who defeated Prabowo twice in presidential elections before Prabowo secured his support after facing term-limit constraints.

Gibran expressed his intention to submit his resignation during a meeting with Prabowo on Tuesday.

Law and Human Rights Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the Senate would need to convene a session to declare the position vacant following Gibran’s submission of his resignation letter, and would send a letter to the president requesting that he nominate two candidates to succeed him.

Earlier on Wednesday, around 120 Indonesian lawmakers from various political factions submitted a petition calling for Gibran’s impeachment, escalating tensions over his political future.

Gibran faced complaints regarding whether his educational qualifications met legal requirements. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court announced it had ordered the Ministry of Education to revoke his certificate of educational equivalence, after the court had annulled it.

Gibran, who studied abroad, had used this certificate to meet the educational requirements for candidacy in the 2024 elections, which he won alongside Prabowo.

Indonesian election law requires that candidates for vice president must have completed secondary education or its equivalent. However, the court found that the certificate was issued based on evidence that did not actually prove that Widodo’s eldest son had graduated.

Gibran’s candidacy in the 2024 elections had previously faced complaints after the Constitutional Court, then chaired by his uncle, struck down a minimum age requirement that would have barred him from running.