On a Thursday in November, Indonesia's vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, handed his resignation to Parliament, closing a long quarrel over whether he had truly earned the schooling required to hold office. The son of the former president Joko Widodo, he rose quickly on a ticket that was meant to bind two political figures together, and the bond now shows signs of strain. Courts that could not agree on the facts have left a question that the nation must now absorb, and the timing of the exit has yet to be fixed. In a country that remembers how power once slipped from a dictator's hands, t
Indonesia's Vice President Gibran Resigns Amid Credentials Scandal and Rift with Prabowo
Positions are fleeting, Mr. Joko told reporters as his son stepped down
Mark
Why does a diploma dispute bring down a vice president?
Mimi
Because it goes to eligibility. He needed the equivalent of a high-school diploma to run, and critics said he lacked it. Impeachment calls built from there.
Mark
And the courts settled it?
Mimi
Not cleanly. The Constitutional Court found no convincing evidence of a foreign diploma equivalent but said it couldn't remove him. The Supreme Court revoked his 2019 equivalency certificate.
Luke
Worth noting that the Supreme Court did not find forgery. Its ruling rested on administrative compliance. So what the courts proved is narrower than the headlines might suggest.
Mark
What about the Jokowi-Prabowo relationship?
Mimi
Analysts read the resignation as a fracture. Earlier this month, officials close to Jokowi, including Prabowo's chief of staff, were arrested on wiretapping charges against the president.
Luke
Those are analysts' interpretations, though. Mr. Joko publicly said the family still backs Prabowo's administration. Whether there's a true split is attributed, not confirmed.
Mark
Is there a thread connecting the 2023 court ruling?
Mimi
Yes. A 5-4 decision waived the age limit of 40 for people who'd held regional office, and Gibran was Surakarta's mayor. The swing vote came from Anwar Usman, Jokowi's brother-in-law by marriage.
Luke
And we still don't know when the resignation takes effect, or what happens in Parliament next. The source doesn't say.
Der Puls
- Parliament received a resignation that ends a scandal but leaves the vice presidency suddenly unsettled.
- Two courts reached different conclusions on Gibran's high school credentials, and the split fueled impeachment calls.
- The alliance between Jokowi and Prabowo is fracturing, with officials close to Jokowi arrested on wiretapping charges.
- Prabowo's approval rating is sliding, and observers are watching whether the downturn deepens.
- No effective date has been announced, so the next move in Jakarta's power struggle remains open.
On a Thursday in November, Indonesia's vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, handed his resignation to Parliament, closing a long quarrel over whether he had truly earned the schooling required to hold office. The son of the former president Joko Widodo, he rose quickly on a ticket that was meant to bind two political figures together, and the bond now shows signs of strain. Courts that could not agree on the facts have left a question that the nation must now absorb, and the timing of the exit has yet to be fixed. In a country that remembers how power once slipped from a dictator's hands, the moment carries weight well beyond one man's diploma.
On Thursday, Indonesia's vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, submitted his resignation to Parliament. It brought an end to a scandal over his academic credentials, but it also deepened uncertainty in Southeast Asia's largest economy, and no date has yet been set for it to take effect.
Gibran was elected in 2024 as the youngest vice president in the nation's history. His place on the ticket was a symbol of the partnership between his father, the former president Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, and Prabowo Subianto, the incoming leader. Many saw the post as a way for Jokowi to keep his influence alive.
The trouble began with a requirement to run for office: the equivalent of a high school diploma. Gibran said he finished grade 12 in Australia, but critics argued he did not meet the standard, even though he later earned a university degree. Impeachment calls grew, and the courts responded unevenly. The Constitutional Court found no convincing evidence of a foreign diploma but said it could not unseat him. The Supreme Court revoked his equivalency certificate on administrative grounds, without finding forgery.
The rift between the two camps had been widening. Officials close to Jokowi were arrested on wiretapping charges, and analysts say Prabowo is trying to step out from under his predecessor's shadow. Jokowi, for his part, struck a conciliatory tone, saying positions are temporary and that the family still supports the administration. The episode also echoes his own long-running dispute over a university certificate.
As Prabowo's approval falls, the country watches uneasily, with the resignation's effective date and the direction of his standing the key questions ahead.
On Thursday, Indonesia's vice president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, submitted his resignation to Parliament. The move ended a scandal over his academic credentials and added fresh political uncertainty to Southeast Asia's largest economy. It was not immediately clear when the resignation would take effect.
Mr. Gibran was elected in 2024 as the youngest vice president in the country's history, after a rapid rise. He is the son of the former president, Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, and his place on the ticket symbolized the partnership between Mr. Joko and the incoming leader, Prabowo Subianto, that carried Mr. Prabowo into office. Many voters saw the vice presidency as a way for Mr. Joko to keep his political influence alive.
That partnership was always an unlikely one. Mr. Joko, once a political outsider, came to be seen as a transformative leader. He helped rehabilitate the image of Mr. Prabowo, a former special forces commander discharged from the military over the abduction and torture of pro-democracy activists under the dictator Suharto. To many Indonesians, Mr. Prabowo recalled the country's authoritarian past. Mr. Joko nonetheless endorsed him as his successor, with Mr. Gibran running alongside.
The trouble centered on a requirement to run for office: the equivalent of a high-school diploma. Mr. Gibran has said he finished grade 12 at a school in Australia. Critics alleged he did not meet the requirement, even though he later earned a university degree. Calls for impeachment mounted, and he faced two cases, one challenging his high school credentials and another seeking to remove him from office on the grounds that those credentials were illegitimate.
The courts did not speak with one voice. Last month, the Constitutional Court said it had found no convincing evidence that Mr. Gibran held a foreign diploma equivalent to an Indonesian senior high school certificate, but noted it lacked jurisdiction to unseat him directly. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court revoked a high school equivalency certificate the Education Ministry issued him in 2019. Its justices did not find that he forged a document; they based the ruling on administrative compliance.
The rift between the two political camps surfaced earlier this month. Several officials seen as close to Mr. Joko, including Mr. Prabowo's chief of staff, were arrested on charges of wiretapping the president. Yoes C. Kenawas, a political analyst at the Indonesian Survey Institute, said the relationship has clearly fractured, and that Mr. Prabowo is trying to show he has stepped out from Mr. Joko's shadow. Titi Anggraini, a constitutional law lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said Mr. Gibran was brought on solely as a vote-getter, not as part of a unified leadership team meant to strengthen the administration.
On Thursday, Mr. Joko struck a conciliatory note. He told reporters he had told Gibran that any position is temporary and fleeting, and that the family remains committed to supporting Mr. Prabowo's administration, especially programs benefiting the wider public. The controversy has a family parallel: Mr. Joko has faced claims that he doctored a university certificate. Last week he appeared in a Jakarta courtroom to display his original diploma from Gadjah Mada University, seeking to rebut the long-running allegations.
Mr. Gibran's path to office also ran through the Constitutional Court. In a 5-4 decision in 2023, it carved out an exception to the minimum age of 40 for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, allowing those who had held elected regional office to run. Mr. Gibran, now 39, had been mayor of Surakarta. The deciding vote came from Chief Justice Anwar Usman, appointed by Mr. Joko and later married to the president's sister. An ethics panel soon removed him, citing a conflict of interest, but could not overturn the ruling.
Mr. Prabowo's two years in office have been marked by an authoritarian tilt and populist policies that have rattled the economy. His approval rating has fallen sharply in recent weeks, leaving the country in a combustible moment that evokes Suharto's ouster three decades ago. What to watch: when the resignation takes effect, and whether that slide continues.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The relationship has clearly fractured.— Yoes C. Kenawas, political analyst, Indonesian Survey Institute
Any position one holds is only temporary; positions are fleeting.— Joko Widodo, former president, speaking to reporters
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