Courts said Gibran could not prove he met education requirement to run in 2024
JAKARTA – Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has resigned, an aide said on Wednesday night, a move that threatens to split a key political alliance and risks further political uncertainty in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Gibran, the 39-year-old son of former president Joko Widodo, has come under intense scrutiny from lawmakers following Constitutional Court and Supreme Court rulings last month that his education documents did not meet election requirements.
The aide, Budi Arie Setiadi, told Reuters that Gibran had tendered his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto earlier on Wednesday.
Separately, two sources at the parliamentary upper house, which will oversee the process of approving his resignation and selecting a replacement, said that he would submit his resignation letter to the upper house on Thursday morning.
The resignation comes amid growing signs of strain in the political alliance between Prabowo, a powerful former general, and Widodo, also known as Jokowi, a highly popular leader who twice defeated Prabowo for the presidency before throwing him his support in 2024 after facing term limits.
An open split could spark further instability for an administration hit by scandals over signature programmes, such as its free school meals policy, and doubts over its handling of the economy, political analysts say.
The reported resignation came just hours after 120 lawmakers from eight parties spanning the political spectrum submitted a petition demanding the impeachment of Gibran.
Investor sentiment has weakened towards Indonesia this year amid heightened scrutiny of the government’s fiscal plans and its broader policy directions, as well as lingering downgrade risks for its stock market by the global index provider MSCI.
Last week, Prabowo fired his chief of staff, widely seen as a Jokowi loyalist, after he was arrested on accusations of bugging the president, among other public figures. (Story continues below)
Protesters sit beneath a banner during a demonstration calling for the impeachment of Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka outside the parliament building in Jakarta on Nov 10, 2026. (Photo: Reuters)
Gibran stated his intention to resign during a meeting with Prabowo on Tuesday.
The upper house of parliament will have to convene a session to declare a vacancy following the submission of Gibran’s resignation letter, while requesting that the president submit two names for a new vice president, said senior law minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
After that, the upper house would hold an election within 60 days.
Gibran had been facing complaints over whether his education credentials met the legal requirements to stand for election in 2024. On Tuesday the Supreme Court said it was instructing the education ministry to withdraw Gibran’s education equivalence certificate, which the court has annulled.
Gibran, who studied abroad, used the certificate to comply with education requirements and run in the 2024 election, which he won alongside Prabowo.
Indonesian election law requires vice-presidential candidates to have completed senior high school or an equivalent level, but the court found that the certificate was issued based on evidence that did not actually prove Jokowi’s eldest son had graduated.
“No evidence was found to show Gibran had a foreign diploma or certificate that could serve as the basis for equivalency with a senior high school or equivalent qualification,” the court said in the ruling.
Sana Jaffrey, a researcher at the Australian National University, said the crisis showed how the political fortunes of a small number of elites took precedence over Indonesia’s need for effective and stable governance.
“Prolonged uncertainty at the highest levels of power will only deepen anxieties at home and abroad about where the country is headed,” she said.
