Indonesia's vice-presidency fell vacant on Thursday, when Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 39, formally submitted his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto and to parliament. He leaves two years into a five-year term and becomes the first directly elected vice-president in the country to quit before the end of a term, according to Türkiye's Anadolu Agency.
The announcement came hours before the House of Representatives was due to take up a petition signed by more than 120 lawmakers from eight parties — the first step in a process that could have led to his impeachment. Gibran said he respected public criticism and did not want the matter to become a drawn-out political controversy. He had offered to resign on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera, at a meeting the State Secretariat described as lasting two and a half hours.
The diploma that never turned up
Gibran's eligibility was challenged in court over the school documents he filed to run in the 2024 election. Indonesian law requires candidates for elected office to hold a high school diploma.
In October, the Constitutional Court found no compelling evidence that he held the required certificate. The Supreme Court then ruled that the equivalency certificate he had obtained was invalid, Australia's ABC News reported. The petitioners argued that the document submitted to the electoral authorities was a Ministry of Education supporting letter, based on a certificate of attendance and a transcript from UTS College in Sydney — not a graduation certificate.
How Indonesia picks a replacement
The vacancy does not trigger a new election. The post stays empty until the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) elects a replacement from two names nominated by the president, within up to 60 days. MPR speaker Ahmad Muzani said the chamber would process the resignation letter within that window.
Prabowo has 14 days to put forward the two nominees, according to Anadolu. Until the new vice-president is elected, the government will be without the second figure in the line of succession — and that comes at a moment when the police leadership is under investigation.
- 2 years of the term served, out of 5
- 120 lawmakers from 8 parties signed the petition against him
- 60 days is the MPR's deadline to elect a successor
- 35 of the country's 38 provinces were visited by Gibran during his tenure, along with 149 districts and cities and 303 government project sites, according to the record released by his team
An alliance under strain
Gibran is the son of former President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, who governed Indonesia for two terms. In 2024, Jokowi backed Prabowo's candidacy and cleared his son to join the ticket as running mate — an alliance that won comfortably and has been fraying ever since. The resignation deepens that rift.
Prabowo said he accepted the departure with a "heavy heart" and praised the vice-president's "hard work, dedication and commitment", calling the decision statesmanlike. Jokowi said political office is temporary and that he would continue to support the government.
The episode adds to two other fronts of crisis. Last week, former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo — seen as a Jokowi ally — and other senior officers were detained in an investigation into wiretapping said to have targeted the president and his allies; a presidential spokesperson went as far as describing the conduct as possibly treasonous, and the inquiry continues. In recent weeks, protests in several cities have demanded answers from the government over economic hardship, corruption and its handling of the wildfires that blanketed part of the country in haze. Officials treat the diploma inquiry as a separate matter from the wiretapping scandal.
With information from Al Jazeera, Anadolu Agency and ABC News (Australia).
