Indonesia’s Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka told President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday that he intends to resign, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters at the Palace in Jakarta, confirming the most serious rupture yet inside the government the two men formed after the 2024 election. The two met for about two and a half hours on Tuesday morning. “During the discussion, the vice president expressed his intention to resign in light of the evolving situation,” Prasetyo said, referring to recent Constitutional Court and Supreme Court decisions concerning the education documents Gibran submitted as a candidate.
Prasetyo denied reports that Prabowo rejected the intention outright, but stopped short of saying the president had accepted it. No written resignation has been announced, and there is no effective date or formal vacancy. Gibran asked for the opportunity to prove the validity of his documents through proceedings at the State Administrative Court, and Prabowo offered advice during the meeting, Prasetyo said. The Supreme Court recently annulled the validity of an equivalency certificate tied to Gibran’s overseas secondary schooling, and the Constitutional Court separately found no convincing evidence that his overseas education met the minimum high-school qualification required to run for office.
The pressure is building in parliament as well. Lawmakers are weighing a probe into Gibran’s eligibility, and 50 members of the House of Representatives from six factions have backed a proposal to exercise the right to express an opinion on the diploma controversy. Gibran, the eldest son of former president Joko Widodo, was the decisive asset in Prabowo’s 2024 victory, joining the ticket after a controversial Constitutional Court ruling lowered the minimum age for vice-presidential candidates. A widening rift between Prabowo and Jokowi has since become one of the defining tensions of the administration.
For now, the stated position is an intention, not a departure. Whether Gibran files a formal resignation or first litigates the documents question at the administrative court decides the path: a voluntary resignation and a removal under Articles 7A and 7B of the 1945 Constitution are different processes, and the Palace has announced neither.