Facing congressional impeachment for invalid academic qualifications! Indonesia’s 39-year-old Vice President Jibrang is summoned to resign

Jibrang is the eldest son of former Indonesian President Joko Widodo. (Reuters)

Indonesia's 39-year-old Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka is facing impeachment by Congress over a dispute over the invalidity of his academic qualifications. A close confidant confirmed on Wednesday (11th) that Guibran has formally submitted his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto and is expected to submit his resignation letter to the upper house of Congress on Thursday morning.

According to comprehensive foreign media reports, Jibrang is the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo. He studied in Singapore and Australia and will register to run for office in 2024 with a renewed "high school equivalency certificate." According to Indonesian law, the president and vice president must have a high school diploma or above; however, the Indonesian Constitutional Court recently determined that his education certificate was insufficient, and the Supreme Court ruled on October 30 to revoke the certificate, pointing out that "there is no evidence that he has a compliant high school diploma."

This judicial pronouncement set off a tsunami in the political arena. The Indonesian Parliament resumed its session on Tuesday after a month-long recess. Members quickly gathered to counterattack. As of early Wednesday, 120 members from eight congressional groups had signed a proposal calling for the exercise of the "right to express opinions" of the House of Representatives, formally paving the way for the impeachment of Gibran.

Faced with a double attack, Guibran held a closed-door meeting with President Prabowo for two and a half hours on Tuesday morning. Indonesian State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi subsequently confirmed that Gibran had expressed his intention to resign to the president in person during the meeting; Prabowo did not reject Gibran's resignation and suggested that he seek judicial review in accordance with regulations.

Close confidant Budi Arie also confirmed to the media that Gibran submitted his resignation directly to Prabowo on Wednesday. Sources in the upper house of parliament also revealed that Gibran will formally send his resignation letter to the upper house on Thursday morning to start the constitutional process of approving the resignation and selecting a successor.

The report pointed out that Gibran's resignation symbolizes the disintegration of the political alliance that contributed to Prabowo's victory in 2024. Gibran was able to run for office at the age of 36 thanks to the Constitutional Court's controversial relaxation of the 40-year-old age threshold. He was regarded by the outside world as the core product of Jokowi's political alliance with his former enemy Prabowo.