Indonesia's Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has resigned, his political aide Budi Arie Setiadi told Reuters on Wednesday, November 11, a move that risks further political turbulence in Southeast Asia's largest economy. Setiadi said Gibran had tendered his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto earlier on Wednesday.

Source: Reuters via Jawawa (Jakarta Globe)

The BBC reported the same step independently: the aide, Budi Arie, told the BBC that Gibran's resignation letter was submitted directly to Prabowo on Wednesday, and that it remains unclear whether it has been accepted. Gibran's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported, and at the time of reporting neither the presidential palace nor Gibran had issued a formal public confirmation.

Source: BBC via VidiaNews

A day after offering to quit

Gibran met Prabowo for two-and-a-half hours on Tuesday morning, during which he expressed an intention to resign amid mounting pressure over his educational qualifications, according to presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi. Later on Tuesday he told reporters that Prabowo had advised him to continue fighting his case over his education records, including seeking a judicial review of the Supreme Court ruling, Reuters reported. Separately, two sources at the parliamentary upper house — the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which will oversee approving the resignation and selecting a replacement — told Reuters he will submit his resignation letter to the upper house on Thursday morning.

Source: Reuters via SRN News

The rulings that put his eligibility in question

Gibran, 39, the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo, has faced intense scrutiny since last month's court rulings. On October 30, Indonesia's Supreme Court annulled his overseas high-school education equivalency certificate, less than a month after the Constitutional Court found insufficient documentary evidence establishing that his foreign schooling met the relevant qualification requirements. Indonesian law requires a vice-president to have completed senior secondary school or its equivalent; the Supreme Court said no evidence was found to show Gibran had a foreign diploma or certificate that could serve as the basis for equivalency, the BBC reported.

The impeachment push in parliament

Parliament reconvened on Tuesday after a month-long recess, with 50 lawmakers from six factions backing a proposal to exercise the House of Representatives' right to express an opinion — a mechanism that could lead to impeachment proceedings against Gibran. By Wednesday, 120 parliamentarians from all eight factions had signed the proposal, paving the way for impeachment, Reuters reported.

What happens next

The immediate next step reported is Gibran's letter to the MPR on Thursday morning. Under the process set out in Indonesia's 1945 Constitution, as explained by Coordinating Minister for Law Yusril Ihza Mahendra in detikNews reporting, the vice-presidential seat becomes vacant on an approved resignation, the MPR writes to the president, Prabowo must propose two names, and the MPR elects the new vice-president within a maximum of 60 days. Whether Prabowo accepts the resignation, and who he might nominate, had not been announced at the time of publishing.

The resignation also lands amid a widening rift between Widodo, known as Jokowi, and Prabowo, Reuters and the BBC reported. Jokowi's support was instrumental in securing the Prabowo-Gibran ticket's victory in the 2024 election; since taking office, Prabowo has sidelined several Jokowi-era figures and shown little interest in pushing ahead with Jokowi's legacy new-capital project, Nusantara, according to the BBC's reporting.