Indonesia Weighs Inquiry Into Vice President Gibran's Eligibility in First Step Toward Possible Removal
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian lawmakers are considering a probe into the eligibility of Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the son of former President Joko Widodo, in what could be the first step toward removing him from office. Reuters reported on November 6 that lawmakers are looking at launching a parliamentary inquiry into the matter. Gibran was elected vice president in 2024 as the running mate of current President Prabowo Subianto.
In September, a group including an election monitoring organisation petitioned the Constitutional Court to review Gibran's eligibility in the 2024 election, arguing that he did not have the appropriate credentials. The court ruled in October that Gibran's education diplomas issued overseas did not meet election requirements, but the judges also said he could not be removed from office. In a separate complaint, the Supreme Court ruled last month that a key education document Gibran used during the election was invalid, according to local media reports.
The eligibility dispute, together with the wiretapping scandal, has exposed deepening tensions between Prabowo and his predecessor Jokowi. Police named a fourth senior officer as a suspect in the alleged wiretapping of President Prabowo's communications late on November 5, as reported in this outlet's November 6 00:05 batch; the motive remains under investigation, and the presidential palace has described the wiretaps as an "act of treason" endangering state interests.
The rift between Prabowo and Jokowi has widened since September 2025, when Prabowo began removing or reassigning Jokowi loyalists and technocrats in a series of reshuffles, including Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who served as Jokowi's finance chief for eight years. Former national police chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo was sacked as presidential chief of staff this week after he was arrested in the wiretapping case. Prabowo has also approved only 48.8 trillion rupiah (about $2.7 billion) in funding for the new capital Nusantara project until 2029, about 60 percent of what Jokowi spent between 2022 and 2024.
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：印度尼西亚总统普拉博沃（本站此前报道配图）。图片来源：GSM 资料图。 / Photo: Indonesian President Prabowo (GSM archive photo). Photo: GSM archive.
