Indonesia's Vice President Resigns as Diploma Ruling Shakes Prabowo's Alliance

JAKARTA — Indonesia's Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka resigned on Thursday, submitting his resignation to the leadership of the People's Consultative Assembly at the parliament building in Jakarta, after two courts ruled that the education documents he used to run for office did not meet the legal requirements for the job.

Gibran, 39, the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo, handed his resignation letter to the leadership of the country's highest legislative body on Thursday morning and did not comment as he left, according to the Associated Press. His aide, Budi Arie Setiadi, confirmed on Wednesday that Gibran had tendered his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto, although it remained unclear whether the president had accepted it.

The resignation ends — for now — a political crisis that has gripped Southeast Asia's largest economy and threatens to split the alliance that carried Prabowo to the presidency in 2024. Gibran had been Prabowo's running mate in that election, a partnership built on the backing of his father, Joko Widodo, Indonesia's most popular politician.

A resignation offered, then delivered

Gibran offered to resign on Tuesday during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with Prabowo, telling the president he wanted to avoid a prolonged political controversy, according to State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi. A cabinet minister said Prabowo urged him instead to defend himself, and it was not clear whether the president had accepted the offer. Gibran later said Prabowo had advised him to keep fighting the rulings through the State Administrative Court.

By Wednesday, the political arithmetic had shifted. A petition signed by 120 lawmakers from eight political parties was submitted to the House leadership, beginning a process that could have led to Gibran's impeachment. Hours later, his aide confirmed the resignation. On Thursday morning, Gibran delivered the letter to the People's Consultative Assembly, the body that must declare the office vacant and elect his successor.

Under Indonesia's Constitution, a vice-presidential vacancy does not trigger a new election. The Assembly elects a replacement from two candidates nominated by the president within 60 days, a timetable that puts Prabowo's choice — and the balance of power inside his coalition — at the centre of Indonesian politics for the next two months.

The diploma ruling that forced the issue

At the heart of the crisis is a single question: did Gibran finish high school? Indonesian election law requires vice-presidential candidates to have completed senior secondary school or its equivalent. Gibran, who studied in Singapore and Australia, used an Indonesian equivalence certificate to demonstrate his credentials when he ran in 2024.

Last month, both of Indonesia's highest courts found that the documents did not meet the requirements. The Constitutional Court ruled on October 6 that it had found no convincing evidence of an overseas diploma supporting Gibran's high school equivalency, although it dismissed the petition because the petitioners lacked legal standing and did not remove him from office. The Supreme Court went further, ruling that the document used during Gibran's 2024 campaign was invalid and instructing the education ministry to withdraw the equivalence certificate.

"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 Supreme Court found, according to reports of the ruling. Gibran has long argued that undertaking university education was sufficient proof that he had completed senior high school, and on Tuesday he asked for the chance to challenge the ruling and prove his credentials.

An impeachment petition waiting in the wings

The parliamentary petition submitted on Wednesday was the immediate trigger for the resignation. Under Indonesian law, House leaders must establish a special committee to examine whether a vice president has violated the constitution by serving despite allegedly failing to meet election requirements, and if they find sufficient basis, the House must ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the question.

The bar for impeachment is high: a motion needs the signatures of at least 25 of the 580 lawmakers, drawn from more than one faction, followed by approval in a plenary session by two-thirds of those present, a Constitutional Court finding, and a final decision by the Assembly. The 120 signatures gathered on Wednesday — from all eight factions — cleared the first hurdle by a wide margin. By resigning first, Gibran denied his opponents the spectacle of a full impeachment process, but the rulings established that the paperwork underpinning his eligibility did not prove what it needed to prove.

A widening rift at the top

The resignation also exposes the widening split between Prabowo and Joko Widodo. The two men were rivals before they became allies: Prabowo lost two presidential elections to Jokowi before joining his cabinet as defence minister, and Jokowi's backing — including Gibran on the ticket — was widely seen as decisive in Prabowo's 2024 victory. That bargain has been under strain for months, and the diploma case is not the only controversy touching the palace.

House Speaker Puan Maharani has cited both the diploma dispute and a separate investigation into allegations that top police officials were involved in wiretapping targeting the president. The two investigations were apparently not related, according to the Associated Press, but their arrival together has deepened the sense of a government under pressure. Whoever Prabowo nominates as Gibran's replacement will be read as a statement about where power now lies: a candidate from Jokowi's circle would signal the alliance survives, while one from Prabowo's own party would confirm the president is consolidating power on his own terms.

Markets punish the uncertainty

Investors have already delivered their verdict. The rupiah plunged to a fresh all-time low of 18,247 per US dollar at the opening of trading on Thursday, surpassing the previous record of 18,188 set on June 8, according to Bloomberg data cited by Indonesian market reports. The currency has weakened by more than 9 percent this year, the worst performance in the Asia-Pacific emerging markets region, and a stronger dollar after hotter-than-expected United States inflation data has compounded the pressure.

"Prolonged political uncertainty risks increasing Indonesia's risk premium, leaving the rupiah highly vulnerable," Lloyd Chan, a senior currency analyst at MUFG Bank, said in a note on Thursday. Foreign investors have continued to sell Indonesian assets, and the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell almost 15 percent in a single week in mid-October, while index provider MSCI is consulting on downgrading Indonesia's market status. The market itself has taken the drama in its stride so far — the index rose 1.02 percent on Tuesday — and ministers have urged investors to focus on economic fundamentals rather than politics.

For now, the politics has not settled. Prabowo has not said whether he has accepted the resignation, the Assembly has not yet declared a vacancy, and no successor has been named. What is certain is that Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, is without a vice president two years into a presidency that was supposed to be defined by stability — and the question of who fills the office, and on whose terms, will dominate Jakarta for the next 60 days. Follow live updates as the succession process unfolds.