Indonesia’s Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has told President Prabowo Subianto that he intends to resign, the presidential palace confirmed on Tuesday, in a development that has thrown the country’s leadership into uncertainty.
State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said the two leaders met for about two and a half hours on Tuesday morning. During the meeting, Gibran said he wanted to step down in light of recent court decisions affecting his position. Prasetyo stressed that reports claiming Prabowo had rejected the idea were untrue, but he stopped short of saying the president had accepted it. No formal resignation has been confirmed, and the palace gave no timetable for what happens next.
FAKTA
- Who: Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of former president Joko Widodo.
- When: Tuesday, 10 November 2026, in a meeting of about two and a half hours with President Prabowo Subianto.
- What happened: Gibran told Prabowo he intended to resign; the president did not reject the intention.
- Confirmed by: State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
- Background: Court rulings have questioned the validity of Gibran’s school equivalency certificate.
- Next step: Gibran has asked for time to prove his documents valid through the State Administrative Court.
What happened at the palace
Prasetyo told reporters that Gibran raised the matter himself during the discussion. “During the discussion, the vice president expressed his intention to resign in light of the evolving situation,” he said. Prabowo, he added, offered a great deal of advice, and Gibran asked to be given the chance to defend the validity of his documents through administrative court proceedings.
The palace was careful to correct one point: it was not true that the president had refused or rejected Gibran’s intention. At the same time, Prasetyo did not say the resignation had been accepted, leaving Gibran’s formal status unclear. The president, he said, had underlined that any step concerning the executive leadership must respect established legal procedures.
Why the pressure has built
Gibran’s move follows a series of court decisions that have put his eligibility under strain. The Supreme Court found that the certificate of equivalency for senior secondary school, which Gibran used when registering for the 2024 presidential election, was invalid.
The pressure has also spilled onto the streets. Protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Jakarta on Tuesday, calling for Gibran’s impeachment. The episode has exposed a widening rift at the top of Indonesian politics, as tension between Prabowo and the camp of Gibran’s father, former president Joko Widodo, has grown with each court ruling.
What happens next
For now, Gibran remains vice president while he seeks to prove his documents valid in the State Administrative Court. Whether he follows through with a formal resignation, and whether Prabowo accepts it, will become clear only in the coming days. A resignation would force Indonesia to settle the question of succession at a moment of open division inside the ruling coalition. More coverage of Asia is available on Watan News.
