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View all search resultsAssembly will pick new vice president to replace Gibran on Dec. 2
Gibran's resignation this week, which analysts say could widen the gulf between President Prabowo Subianto and former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, followed a month of increasing political pressure from lawmakers after Supreme Court ruled that he had inadequate education credentials to run for the job.
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The iconic building in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in Senayan, Jakarta (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) will pick a new vice president on Dec. 2, its speaker said on Friday, after the dramatic resignation of Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the president's deputy and the son of his predecessor.
Gibran's resignation this week, which analysts say could widen the gulf between President Prabowo Subianto and former President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, followed a month of increasing political pressure from lawmakers after Supreme Court ruled that he had inadequate education credentials to run for the job.
Speaker Ahmad Muzani said the MPR, which is tasked by law with appointing the new vice president, would now send a letter to Prabowo requesting that he submit two names for the job.
The house has also formed a team of 36 lawmakers to verify the candidates' credentials, Muzani said. It was not immediately clear which names Prabowo would submit.
On Thursday, Gibran said his resignation was a personal decision and unrelated to issues pertaining to his education credentials.
Gibran said late Thursday the decision had not been an easy one but was taken in the "greater interest".
"This decision is my personal decision and has nothing to do with diplomas; once again, it has nothing to do with diplomas. All my educational documents exist, are complete, and I have already submitted them to the court," he said in a video statement.
A vice president does not have many constitutionally defined powers apart from acting as the president's representative at official events and taking over if his boss is incapacitated.
Prabowo told reporters he had accepted Gibran's resignation "with a heavy heart" and praised him for acting "for a greater cause, for the interests of the nation, the state, and the people of Indonesia".
Analysts believe Gibran's resignation could stoke further political turbulence and lock Jokowi and Prabowo into a bitter rivalry.
Jokowi defeated Prabowo in two presidential elections, in 2014 and 2019. During Jokowi's second term, he made Prabowo his defence minister and tacitly supported the latter's 2024 presidential run.
On Thursday, however, both Jokowi and Gibran struck a conciliatory tone and said they would continue to support Prabowo.
Gibran, in a video address to volunteers shown by news channel Kompas TV, said he would not be in opposition even as an outsider to Prabowo's administration.
"I only have one message: Please, inside or outside government, we still have to support the president," he said.
