'Jokowi’s son' Gibran, Indonesia’s vice president, offers to resign ... ‘full stop’ for the Prabowo-Jokowi alliance

【Hanoi, Vietnam and Jakarta, Indonesia — Correspondent Kim Jun-seok and Correspondent Aulia Maulida Hamdani】Indonesia’s Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who has faced impeachment pressure from parliament over allegations that he falsified academic documents, has conveyed to President Prabowo Subianto his intention to resign. Major foreign media outlets have focused on the move as a first sign that the political alliance between incumbent President Prabowo and former President Joko Widodo has completely ended.
Indonesia’s State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi officially announced at a press briefing on the 10th that “Vice President Gibran told President Prabowo during a one-on-one meeting this morning that he intended to step down from the vice presidency and take responsibility for the political situation following recent rulings by the highest courts.”
Speaking to reporters shortly after announcing his intention to resign, Vice President Gibran said, “I respect all the public criticism and feedback about the current situation, and I don’t want this matter to escalate into a long-term political dispute.” He added, “President Prabowo is like a father to me, and he advised me to fully demonstrate the validity of my degree through the Administrative Court (PTUN) and seek a retrial at the Supreme Court.”
Addressing reports that the president had initially rejected the vice president’s intention to resign, Minister Prasetyo explained, “It is not true that the president rejected the vice president’s intention to resign,” adding, “The president offered various pieces of advice during their discussions.”
Vice President Gibran, the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo, ran as President Prabowo’s running mate in the 2024 presidential election and was elected the youngest vice president in history. But calls for his impeachment reached a peak both inside and outside parliament (DPR) after the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court successively ruled that the academic documents Gibran submitted from overseas educational institutions did not meet the requirements under election law.
Foreign media outlets view the announcement of his resignation as a sweeping shift in the balance of power that goes beyond a mere controversy over academic credentials. Major outlets, including the Financial Times (FT), have analyzed the resignation as meaning that the “final collapse” has come for the political alliance between President Prabowo and former President Widodo, his most influential predecessor. In other words, they say political divisions between the two camps have widened uncontrollably, bringing a serious power struggle within the Indonesian government into the open.
Warnings have also emerged that, to make matters worse, the current political instability could damage the international standing of Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy. After the head of the security secretariat was abruptly dismissed amid allegations of eavesdropping on the president, the vice president also announced his intention to resign, driving policy uncertainty to a peak. Concerns about foreign capital outflows and warnings of downward revisions to investment indicators have piled up, contributing to a stock market crash and the rupiah falling to an all-time low, among other economic shocks.
Vice President Gibran said that, rather than being immediately suspended from duty, he intended to fully establish the validity of his degree documents through proceedings before the Administrative Court (PTUN). However, foreign media outlets broadly agree that the political future of the “Jokowi family” has reached its greatest crisis amid harsh judicial rulings and pressure from parliament to impeach him.
[email protected] Reporter Kim Jun-seok, Correspondent Aulia Maulida Hamdani Reporter