JAKARTA: Indonesia's Constitutional Court has found that while Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's education documentation for his candidacy in the 2024 election was incomplete, it did not disqualify him from office and left the assessment of his eligibility to other institutions.
Petitioners in the case against Gibran, the son of former President Joko Widodo, had argued his foreign senior high school credentials did not meet legal requirements for vice-presidential candidates and were improperly accepted by election officials.
All nine judges dismissed the petition, Chief Justice Suhartoyo said in a ruling issued late on Tuesday (Oct 6).
Judge Adies Kadir said the court did not disqualify Gibran because the petition could no longer be treated as an election-results dispute as he had been sworn into office as vice president to President Prabowo Subianto.
"Although the court found no convincing evidence that Gibran has a foreign diploma equivalent to having completed senior high school, or another equivalent school as stipulated in Election Law, the court cannot annul or disqualify him as requested by the petitioners," Adies said.
Indonesia's election law requires presidential and vice-presidential candidates to have completed senior high school or hold an equivalent qualification. No graduation certificate was presented during the case, the ruling said.
Gibran's office did not respond to a request for comment. Gibran attended Orchid Park Secondary School in Singapore and UTS Insearch in Australia, before earning a bachelor's degree through the Management Development Institute of Singapore.
Adies said the court also found the authority to address the issue of Gibran's eligibility to be vice president due to the absence of his graduation certificate fell under the authority of other institutions, without providing further details.
Bambang Widjojanto, the petitioners' lawyer, said the ruling could provide grounds to impeach Gibran and stop him from standing in the next election unless he completed a government high school equivalency programme.
In 2023, the Constitutional Court sparked outrage with a ruling that enabled Gibran's candidacy despite him not meeting the age requirement to stand for the position of vice president. - Reuters
