Key facts
- Gibran Rakabuming Raka resigned as vice president to avoid impeachment over his educational qualifications.
- Lawmakers across the political spectrum backed the impeachment proposal, including nearly a dozen from Prabowo's Gerindra party.
- Gibran said he went through a heavy inner struggle before becoming Prabowo's running mate in 2024.
- Analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said the resignation suggests a fundamental shift in the Prabowo and Jokowi relationship.
- Two people with knowledge of Jokowi's thinking said he was disappointed no coalition support was offered to Gibran.
- Gibran's brother Kaesang Pangarep has begun mobilising the Indonesian Solidarity Party, sources said.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka resigned as Indonesia's vice president on November 11, 2026, to avoid impeachment in parliament over a lack of educational qualifications, Reuters reported. Lawmakers across the political spectrum backed the impeachment proposal on the same day, including nearly a dozen from Prabowo Subianto's Gerindra party.
In a farewell video message on November 12, Gibran, 39, said sitting in the seat was never something he designed, thought about or pursued, and that he went through a heavy inner struggle before becoming Prabowo's running mate. His two-year tenure began and ended with contentious court rulings.
Prabowo picked Gibran, the eldest son of former president Joko Widodo, as his running mate in the 2024 election, part of a bargain that gave the leader access to some of Jokowi's popularity. Analysts viewed it as a marriage of convenience between once bitter rivals: Jokowi twice defeated Prabowo for the presidency before backing him.
Gibran's exit follows reports of growing differences between the leaders, though both sides publicly declared support for each other after the resignation. Burhanuddin Muhtadi of Singapore's Yusof Ishak Institute said the resignation without strong political backing to keep him can be interpreted as a sign the relationship between Prabowo and Jokowi has undergone a fundamental shift.
Election law requires vice-presidential candidates to have completed senior high school or an equivalent level of education. Court rulings last month said the evidence for the certificate submitted by Gibran, who had studied abroad, fell short of proving his graduation, prompting the impeachment proposal.