Indonesia’s Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka resigned on Thursday, November 12, amid questions about his education documents, and President Prabowo Subianto accepted his resignation as parliament began planning to fill the vacant post.
MPR Speaker Ahmad Muzani said Gibran submitted his resignation letter to the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), Indonesia’s upper house. Muzani said Gibran also sent the letter to Prabowo. Prabowo later said he accepted the resignation “with a heavy heart.”
Gibran, 39, leaves about two years into a five-year term. The dispute follows court rulings that questioned whether Gibran’s overseas education documents met election requirements. Gibran said his decision to resign was personal and was not related to his diploma.
He also said his education documents were complete and had been submitted to court. Earlier in the week, he had raised the possibility of resigning. He said he wanted to avoid a long political controversy.
Muzani said the vice presidency was vacant. He said the MPR would work to fill it within 60 days. The process requires the president to nominate two candidates for lawmakers to consider.
MPR leaders planned to meet Friday, November 13, to decide what to do next.