JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Supreme Court invalidated a high-school equivalency certificate submitted by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka as part of his candidacy in the 2024 election, raising questions about his ability to remain in office or run again in 2029.
The court on Friday (Oct 30) granted an appeal filed by lawyer Subhan Palal against the Education Ministry, overturning two lower-court rulings that had rejected his lawsuit.
The decision annulled a government certificate issued in August 2019 that was used to establish that Gibran met the minimum educational requirement for his 2024 candidacy. The court also granted the plaintiff’s request to have the document withdrawn and destroyed.
The move revives questions about Gibran’s eligibility to remain in office, his ability to run for office in 2029, and whether he could face impeachment or other proceedings aimed at removing him.
The ruling does not itself oust him or automatically bar a future candidacy. Any removal would require separate constitutional proceedings.
Gibran, the son of former President Joko Widodo, has not publicly commented on Friday’s ruling. He has previously said that he could not have earned a bachelor’s degree without first completing high school.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to explain its ruling at a briefing in Jakarta on Monday. The full judgment, including the court’s reasoning, had not been published as of Monday morning.
The ruling follows an October Constitutional Court decision that found no convincing evidence of a foreign diploma or certificate supporting Gibran’s high-school equivalency.
The Constitutional Court, however, dismissed the case, because the petitioners lacked standing. It also said it could not disqualify Gibran through an election-results dispute because he had already been sworn in as vice president and was no longer a candidate. - Bloomberg
