The vice president of Indonesia submitted his resignation to Parliament on Thursday, succumbing to a scandal about his academic credentials and injecting new political uncertainty in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka was elected as Indonesia’s youngest vice president in 2024, in a precipitous rise. He was a symbol of the partnership between his father, the outgoing president, Joko Widodo, and the incoming leader, Prabowo Subianto, that elevated Mr. Prabowo into office.
“The relationship has clearly fractured,” said Yoes C. Kenawas, a political analyst at the Indonesian Survey Institute. With Mr. Gibran’s departure, “Prabowo is attempting to demonstrate that he has stepped out from Jokowi’s shadow,” he added, referring to the former leader by his nickname.
Initially a political outsider, Mr. Joko came to be seen as a transformative leader of Indonesia. He helped rehabilitate the image of Mr. Prabowo, a former special forces commander who was discharged from the military for his involvement in the abduction and torture of pro-democracy activists under the dictator Suharto. To many, Mr. Prabowo was a reminder of the country’s authoritarian past. But Mr. Joko endorsed Mr. Prabowo as his successor, with Mr. Gibran running on the same ticket.
The alliance between Mr. Joko and Mr. Prabowo was cast as one of political continuity. Many voters had seen Mr. Gibran’s vice presidency as a way for Mr. Joko to continue his political influence.
“From the beginning, Gibran was brought on board solely to serve as a ‘vote-getter,’ rather than as an integral part of a unified leadership team intended to strengthen the performance of the Prabowo administration,” said Titi Anggraini, a lecturer of constitutional law at University of Indonesia.
Mr. Prabowo’s two years in office have been dominated by his authoritarian tilt and populist policies that have rattled the economy. In recent weeks his approval rating has plummeted, leaving the country in a combustible moment that evokes the ouster of Suharto three decades ago.
It was not immediately clear when Mr. Gibran’s resignation would be effective. He is stepping down after mounting calls for impeachment over allegations that he had failed to meet a requirement to run for office — holding the equivalent of a high-school diploma — even though he later earned a university degree.
Mr. Gibran has said that he finished grade 12 at a school in Australia. He has faced two cases, one that challenged his high school credentials and another that sought to remove him from office on the grounds that those credentials were illegitimate.
Last month, the Constitutional Court said that it had found no convincing evidence that Mr. Gibran possessed a foreign diploma equivalent to an Indonesian senior high school certificate. But it noted that it did not have the jurisdiction to unseat him directly.
Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court delivered another blow. It revoked a high school equivalency certificate that was issued to Mr. Gibran by the Education Ministry in 2019. But the justices did not establish that Mr. Gibran had forged a document, centering their ruling instead on administrative compliance.
Earlier this month, what appeared to be a seismic break in the Jokowi-Prabowo alliance emerged. Several officials, including Mr. Prabowo’s chief of staff, who were seen as close to Mr. Joko, were arrested on charges of wiretapping the president.
Mr. Joko appeared to cast a conciliatory note on Thursday.
“I have told Gibran that any position one holds is only temporary; positions are fleeting,” he told reporters. “We remain committed to supporting President Prabowo’s administration, especially regarding programs that benefit the broader public.”
The controversy that felled Mr. Gibran has an unusual family parallel.
Mr. Joko has faced claims that he doctored a university certificate to become eligible to run for office. Last week, Mr. Joko, appeared in a Jakarta courtroom to display his original diploma from Gadjah Mada University, seeking to rebut long-running allegations regarding its authenticity.
The Constitutional Court played a crucial role in Mr. Gibran’s ascendance to the vice presidency. In a 5-4 decision in 2023, it carved out an exception to the minimum age requirement of 40 for presidential and vice-presidential candidates, allowing younger candidates who had held elected regional office to run. Mr. Gibran, now 39, had been the mayor of the city of Surakarta.
The deciding vote was cast by Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who had been appointed by Mr. Joko and later married the president’s sister. Soon after, an ethics panel removed Mr. Anwar from his post, citing a conflict of interest, but it could not overturn the court’s decision.
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