By Ananda Teresia
JAKARTA, Nov 11 (Reuters) – More than 100 Indonesian lawmakers from across the political spectrum submitted a petition on Wednesday demanding the impeachment of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, a move that risks further stoking political tensions in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Gibran, the son of former president Joko Widodo, has come under intense scrutiny following Constitutional Court and Supreme Court rulings last month that his education documents did not meet election requirements.
The controversy has unfolded amid a widening rift between Widodo, also known as Jokowi, and the current President Prabowo Subianto, fuelling speculation over Gibran’s political future.
Gibran stated his intention to resign during a meeting with Prabowo on Tuesday.
Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Saan Mustopa said the petition seeking Gibran’s impeachment was submitted by 120 lawmakers from eight parties in parliament.
Gibran, as vice president, “no longer meets the requirements as vice president as stipulated in Indonesia’s constitution,” said Mardani Ali Sera, one of the lawmakers who signed the petition.
Another lawmaker, Ahmad Doli Kurnia, said Gibran was no longer eligible to serve as vice president following the courts’ rulings.
“Requesting the matter to be processed by removing the vice president,” he said.
According to Indonesian law, with the submission of the petition, the House leadership must form a special committee to determine whether Gibran has violated the Indonesian Constitution by serving as vice president despite allegedly not meeting the election requirements. If the allegation is upheld, the House must ask the Constitutional Court to rule whether Gibran has violated the constitution.
If the court confirms the allegation, the House then proposes impeachment to the Upper House.
COURT RULING
The Supreme Court said in a ruling published on its website late on Tuesday that it was instructing the education ministry to withdraw Gibran’s education equivalence certificate, which the court has annulled.
Gibran, who studied abroad, used the certificate to comply with education requirements and run in the 2024 election, which he won alongside Prabowo.
Indonesian election law requires vice-presidential candidates to have completed senior high school or an equivalent level of education, but the court found that the certificate was issued based on evidence that did not actually prove Jokowi’s eldest son had graduated.
“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 court said in the ruling.
The Supreme Court also took into account the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which said Gibran’s education documents did not meet election requirements.
Before the 2024 election, the Constitutional Court issued a decision to change election rules on age requirements, allowing Gibran to run for vice president. Jokowi was accused of breaching ethics and interfering in the process.
Sana Jaffrey, a researcher at the Australian National University, said it would be difficult to imagine that lawmakers would move against Gibran without Prabowo’s awareness or approval.
“Prabowo’s silence suggests that he wants Gibran’s removal without bearing the potential political cost of openly engineering it, particularly a possible backlash from Jokowi supporters whose backing helped secure his victory,” she said.
Jaffrey said the crisis showed how the political fortunes of a small number of elites took precedence over the country’s need for effective and stable governance.
“Prolonged uncertainty at the highest levels of power will only deepen anxieties at home and abroad about where the country is headed,” she said.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto; Editing by David Stanway and Kate Mayberry)
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