Symbolic imageIndonesian vice president resigns after courts reject school credentials
Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka submitted his resignation on Thursday. President Prabowo Subianto said he accepted it.
Gibran, 39, handed his resignation to parliament and to Prabowo, who accepted it "with a heavy heart" at the Presidential Palace. Last month the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court ruled that his overseas schooling documents did not meet election requirements, and the Supreme Court revoked his 2019 equivalency certificate without finding forgery. Gibran had offered to resign on Tuesday, but a cabinet minister said Prabowo then urged Gibran to contest the case.
Succession and impeachment
A petition by 120 lawmakers from eight parties, filed on Wednesday, had begun a parliamentary impeachment process. The People's Consultative Assembly must now elect a successor from two candidates nominated by Prabowo within 60 days.
Jokowi and Prabowo
Gibran's father, former president Joko Widodo, said he will keep backing Prabowo's government. Analyst Yoes Kenawas told the New York Times that "the relationship has clearly fractured".
Wiretap case
Police said on Thursday they have enough initial evidence to pursue treason charges against four suspects, including the former police chief, arrested last week over the alleged tapping of Prabowo's phone. Al Jazeera notes the diploma case appears unrelated.