Theressia Sunday Silalahi, Reza Hery Pamungkas, Jakarta – Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said he would respect all legal proceedings at Indonesia's Constitutional Court (MK) after the court dismissed a petition challenging his eligibility to serve as vice president, including claims over his educational qualifications.
Gibran said that he would focus on carrying out his duties alongside President Prabowo Subianto rather than becoming preoccupied with the legal challenge.
"We respect all the stages and processes at the Constitutional Court. What is most important now is that I continue to focus on working for the people and supporting the president's vision, mission and programs," Gibran said on Wednesday.
Asked about the court's discussion of his high school graduation credentials, Gibran pointed to his subsequent university education in Singapore.
"If I had not graduated from high school, I could not have gone to university. I studied through a bachelor's degree in Singapore," he said.
Gibran attended Orchid Park Secondary School in Singapore from 2002 to 2004 before continuing his studies at UTS Insearch in Sydney, Australia, from 2004 to 2007, at the level of senior high school-equivalent education.
He then studied full-time at the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) from 2007 to 2010, completing an Advanced Diploma. He later continued his studies through an MDIS partnership with the University of Bradford in the UK, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in marketing.
Gibran also said his team would follow up on administrative issues raised during the court proceedings regarding the submission of his education documents.
Dispute over his education
The latest case focused on whether Gibran had satisfied the minimum education requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates under Indonesia's election law.
The Constitutional Court said Tuesday it did not find convincing evidence during the hearing that Gibran possessed a foreign diploma, certificate, or degree that had been used as the basis for establishing an educational equivalency to at least a senior high school qualification.
However, the court did not accept the petition because the petitioners lacked legal standing to bring the case. As a result, it said it could not annul or disqualify Gibran as vice president.
"Even though the hearing did not find or obtain convincing evidence showing that Gibran Rakabuming Raka possessed a foreign diploma, certificate or degree used as the basis for establishing equivalency to at least a senior high school education, the court cannot annul or disqualify Gibran Rakabuming Raka from his position as vice president," Constitutional Court Justice Adies Kadir said while reading the ruling on Tuesday.
Critics say court ruling reinforces questions over Gibran's education
The petitioners argued that Gibran had not provided a conventional high school diploma and questioned the validity of documents used to establish his educational equivalency. The KPU, Indonesia's election commission, said it had verified Gibran's candidacy documents in October 2023 and accepted an official equivalency certificate as meeting the requirement.
Denny Indrayana, a former deputy law minister and one of the petitioners, took a different view after Tuesday's ruling, saying the court's discussion reinforced his claim that Gibran did not meet the statutory education requirement.
Gibran's supporters, meanwhile, welcomed the decision and called on the petitioners to accept the ruling and support the Prabowo administration.
Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and chairman of the daily leadership of Prabowo's Gerindra Party, said lawmakers respected the Constitutional Court's decision but had yet to study the full ruling.
How Gibran became Prabowo's running mate
Gibran, the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo, became Prabowo's running mate after a controversial change to Indonesia's presidential eligibility rules in 2023.
Under the election law, presidential and vice-presidential candidates were required to be at least 40 years old. Gibran was 36 at the time and had been serving as mayor of Surakarta, also known as Solo.
In October 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled that the 40-year minimum could also be met by candidates who had previously held or were currently holding elected positions through elections, including regional heads. The ruling effectively opened the way for Gibran to run despite being below the age threshold.
The ruling generated controversy because then-Chief Justice Anwar Usman, who participated in the case, was Gibran's uncle by marriage. Anwar was later removed as chief justice by the court's ethics panel over a conflict-of-interest violation related to the case.
Prabowo subsequently selected Gibran as his running mate. The ticket won the Feb. 14, 2024 presidential election with 96.2 million votes, or about 58.6% of the valid vote, defeating the pairs of Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD.
The General Elections Commission formally declared Prabowo and Gibran the elected president and vice president in April 2024, and they were sworn in on Oct. 20, 2024, for the 2024-2029 term.
Source: https://jakartaglobe.id/news/gibran-remains-indonesias-vp-after-court-rejects-bid-to-disqualify-hi