Gibran resignation offer: Indonesia’s vice president tells Prabowo he intends to quit after court rulings
Prabowo advised Gibran to pursue legal avenues to defend his academic documents, and the House held a plenary session on Tuesday without a clear sign of impeachment moves.
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Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka offered to resign during a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, according to officials cited by the Associated Press. The Gibran resignation offer follows a court dispute over the education papers he used to run in the 2024 election. Gibran, 39, is the son of former president Joko Widodo.
What happened in the Gibran resignation offer
Gibran held more than two hours of talks with Prabowo, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters at a news conference at the presidential palace, the AP said. The Jakarta Globe put the meeting at about two and a half hours.
It was not immediately clear whether Prabowo accepted the offer, the AP reported. Gibran made a brief statement to reporters as he left his office but did not address the resignation. “I respect all criticism and feedback from the public regarding the developments that are taking place,” he said. “I do not want the current situation to become a prolonged political controversy.”
What Prasetyo Hadi said about Prabowo’s response
Hadi said the vice president raised his intention to resign “in response to developments surrounding rulings by the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court,” according to the Jakarta Globe. He added that it was not true that the president rejected that intention during the meeting.
Prabowo advised Gibran to “continue pursuing legal avenues to defend the validity of his academic documents,” Hadi said. Gibran asked for a chance to establish the validity of those documents in proceedings before the State Administrative Court, the Jakarta Globe reported.
Key numbers
- 39: Gibran’s age, per the AP.
- 30 October 2026: the day the Supreme Court declared the 2019 education equivalency certificate used by Gibran invalid, according to Indonesia Business Post.
- 6 October 2026: the day the Constitutional Court rejected a petition on his eligibility, per the same report.
- 11: the number of co-petitioners who joined former deputy law minister Denny Indrayana in that case, per Indonesia Business Post.
Supreme Court ruling on the education certificate
The row escalated on 30 October, when the Supreme Court granted an appeal filed by Subhan Palal and declared the certificate invalid and legally void, Indonesia Business Post reported. The court also ordered it withdrawn from whoever held it and destroyed.
Earlier, on 6 October, the Constitutional Court had rejected the petition from Denny Indrayana and 11 others because the applicants lacked legal standing to challenge the 2024 presidential election result. That case did not settle whether Gibran met the education requirement.
Background: The Prabowo and Widodo rift
The AP said the developments come amid a widening political rift between Prabowo and Widodo. An ongoing probe into allegations that top police officials were involved in a wiretap targeting the president apparently has no link to the resignation offer, the AP said. Widodo, who has not been implicated in that investigation, faces unrelated allegations that he used a fake university diploma, which he denies.
Gibran’s rise began after a Constitutional Court ruling in October 2023 that let candidates under 40 run for president or vice president if they had held elected regional office, according to Indonesia Business Post. For another leadership crisis, see our report on Paraguay’s president resigning and being impeached.
What happens next
Whether the Gibran resignation takes effect depends on Prabowo’s response and on the State Administrative Court case Gibran wants to bring. The House of Representatives held a plenary session on Tuesday, but it was not clear whether lawmakers intend to start impeachment proceedings, the Jakarta Globe reported. No date has been given for a decision.
A sitting vice president offering to quit over his eligibility papers puts the legitimacy debate over the 2024 election and the rift between Prabowo and Widodo in public view. The next tests are whether Prabowo accepts the offer, whether the State Administrative Court case goes ahead, and whether the House starts impeachment proceedings.
Named in this story
Sources
- Indonesia's vice president offers resignation as questions mount over his eligibility (Associated Press via WRAL)
- Breaking News: Gibran Offers to Resign as Indonesia's Vice President Amid Diploma Dispute (Jakarta Globe)
- Gibran's resignation bid: The controversies that shaped his rise under Jokowi (Indonesia Business Post)