Indonesia VP Gibran expresses intent to step down, presidential official says
Presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi denied reports that President Prabowo Subianto rejected Gibran Rakabuming Raka's request, but stopped short of saying the president had accepted it.
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JAKARTA: Indonesia's Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka expressed his intention to step down during a meeting on Tuesday (Nov 10) with President Prabowo Subianto, a senior official said, as lawmakers weigh the possibility of a probe into Gibran's eligibility.
"During the discussion, the vice-president expressed his intention to resign in light of the evolving situation," presidential spokesperson Prasetyo Hadi told reporters.
Prasetyo denied reports that Prabowo rejected Gibran's request, but stopped short of saying the president had accepted it.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Gibran said that Prabowo had advised him to legally contest recent court rulings that found that he was ineligible for office, after he had expressed his intention to resign.
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"I respect all the aspirations, criticisms, and suggestions from the public regarding the current situation. I do not want these developments to turn into a prolonged political controversy.
"(Prabowo) offered a great deal of advice and input concerning the current situation. One of his suggestions was that I should continue to pursue my case at the Administrative Court by presenting all my academic records ...," said Gibran.
The meeting came amid a widening political rift between Prabowo and Gibran's influential father, the popular two-term former President Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi.
Gibran helped Prabowo win the 2024 election by a huge margin, but some lawmakers are seeking to investigate whether incomplete education documents he submitted as a candidate disqualify him as vice president.
Gibran, 39, had kept a low profile as vice-president, and his appearances together with Prabowo have been infrequent in their first two years in office.
But he has been thrust into the spotlight of late as tensions grow between the president and Jokowi, who twice defeated Prabowo in 2014 and 2019 elections before tacitly backing him as his successor.
Lawmakers in parliament, which is overwhelmingly under the control of Prabowo's "big tent" coalition, have been looking into launching an inquiry, which some analysts believe could be the first step towards Gibran's impeachment.
The dispute over Gibran's qualifications came after rulings last month by the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court that the education documents he submitted did not meet election requirements.
The constitutional court, however, said it did not have the power to disqualify him, which was the responsibility of other institutions.
On Monday, three senior politicians from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) serving in Prabowo's Cabinet collectively announced their resignations from the party led by Kaesang Pangarep. Kaesang is Gibran's younger brother and the party had supported the latter in the 2024 presidential election.
The resignations come amid PSI's efforts to strengthen support ahead of the 2029 elections. Since its founding in 2014, PSI has failed to win seats in the House of Representatives in the two elections it has contested - in 2019 and 2024.
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