Indonesia’s Constitutional Court rejects bid to disqualify VP Gibran over high school credentials

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has ruled against a petition calling for Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka to be disqualified from his position over questions on his education credentials.“The request of the petitioners is declared inadmissible,” Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo said on Oct 6.A group of 12 petitioners, which included former deputy law minister Denny Indrayana, had argued that Gibran had not completed the equivalent of senior high school, a requirement for presidential and vice-presidential candidates in Indonesia. They thus asked the court to invalidate his candidacy as well as his subsequent inauguration as vice president.Gibran, 39, the eldest child of former president Joko Widodo, spent most of his secondary and tertiary education abroad, largely in Singapore and Australia.He studied at Orchid Park Secondary School in Singapore from 2002 to 2004 and then at the University of Technology Sydney’s affiliated college Insearch from 2004 to 2007, Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) records show.He continued his studies at the Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) and completed a bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2010, which was awarded by the University of Bradford through its collaboration with MDIS.While Gibran’s bachelor’s degree is not in dispute, the petitioners questioned whether the documents that Gibran submitted to KPU to prove that he had completed senior high school were valid, as he submitted only a transcript and a certificate of attendance, not a high school diploma.“If he cannot produce the mandatory documents proving completion of senior high school or an equivalent level of education — such as a photocopy of a diploma, a school-leaving certificate, or another official statement legalised by the school — prospective vice-presidential candidate Gibran Rakabuming Raka should not have qualified as a vice-presidential candidate, let alone been designated as the elected Vice President or inaugurated as the Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia,” the petition said.In its ruling, the Constitutional Court appeared to agree with the petitioners that the documents that Gibran submitted did not amount to a senior high school-equivalent diploma. However, it also ruled that it could not disqualify Gibran on that basis since he is no longer a vice-presidential candidate.Furthermore, the court said that since the case was essentially an election dispute, only candidates who contested the 2024 presidential election were qualified to petition the court on the matter.“Therefore, the petitioners do not have the legal standing to file the case,” Justice Liliek Prisbawono Adi said.After the ruling, Refly Harun, a member of the petitioners’ legal team, jokingly said that this is the first time that a Constitutional Court ruling had made both sides happy.“The other side is happy because Gibran has not been disqualified, but our side is also happy because Gibran has been proven not to have a senior high school diploma,” Refly said at a press conference.“This means that there is a chance for Gibran to be impeached by parliament.”He further said that the petitioners planned to seek an audience with parliament leaders to discuss the matter.Parliament speaker Puan Maharani had earlier declined to comment much on the case. “We respect the ongoing process at the Constitutional Court, and whatever the ruling may be, we will certainly respect the Court’s decision,” she told reporters on Oct 6, before the ruling.President Prabowo Subianto’s choice of Gibran as running mate was one of the key moments of the 2024 election as it signaled continuity with former president Joko Widodo’s government.Gibran’s vice-presidential candidacy has been a subject of controversy even before this petition, as he initially did not meet the minimum age requirement of 40. But the Constitutional Court, then headed by Jokowi’s brother in-law Anwar Usman, ruled that an exemption could be made for candidates who had previously won a regional head election - Gibran had been elected mayor of Surakarta in 2021.The palace has been mostly mum on the petition, with newly appointed head of the Government Communications Agency (Bakom) Syahganda Nainggolan saying only that President Prabowo respected the court’s independence.“The President has said that the matter is within the authority of the judiciary and he will not intervene,” Syahganda said.Meanwhile, Gibran told reporters on Oct 7 that he respected the Constitutional Court’s ruling.“Most importantly, I will continue to focus on working for the public and successfully implementing the vision, mission, and programmes of the President,” he said. When asked about the court’s statement that there was no proof that he had a high school diploma, Gibran said: “If I didn’t graduate from high school, then I wouldn’t be able to go to university -- after all I completed my bachelor’s degree in Singapore.”