Examining Gibran’s Remaining Options

The controversy over Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s education certificate is gathering pace and growing. After the Constitutional Court opened the way for debate in a ruling some time ago, the Supreme Court (MA) has now granted Subhan’s appeal concerning the equivalency of Vice-President Gibran’s overseas secondary-school education. The Supreme Court ruled that the equivalency certificate was invalid and void by law.

“Appeal granted. The judex facti ruling is set aside. The court adjudicates the case itself: the plaintiff’s claim is granted in full,” said ruling No. 742 K/TUN/2026, as quoted from the Supreme Court’s official website on Friday (30 October).

Several parties have responded to the ruling. Golkar said it would examine the decision further. Ahmad Doli Kurnia, Golkar deputy chairman and a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission II, said he was surprised by it.

“To be honest, this Supreme Court ruling came as a surprise to me. Less than three and a half weeks after the Constitutional Court ruling—which was still controversial, particularly over the existence of the diploma—a Supreme Court ruling has suddenly emerged declaring the certificate of equivalency invalid,” Doli said, as quoted by detikNews on Sunday (1 November 2026).

Doli added that the ruling had implications for national politics. In his view, the legal issues in the case were nearing a conclusion, but the political ramifications had reached the level of the state.

PDIP Secretary-General Hasto Kristiyanto expressed a similar view, saying the matter was no longer merely an administrative issue. He said the public would be able to voice its views, including through political parties and other political and constitutional mechanisms.

In response to the Supreme Court ruling, Democratic Party Deputy Secretary-General Jansen Sitindaon said emphatically that Gibran no longer met the requirements to serve as Indonesia’s vice-president. He said the court had clearly rejected the equivalency of Gibran’s secondary-school education certificate with an Indonesian upper-secondary school-leaving certificate.

Citing detikNews, Jansen said Gibran now had only two options regarding the vice-presidency: resign or be removed or impeached by the People’s Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives.

“Since he is no longer legally valid and no longer meets the requirements to be vice-president, in my view there are now only two options: Mr Gibran resigns from the vice-presidency with dignity, or the House of Representatives, through the People’s Consultative Assembly, ‘removes’ him by invoking Article 7A of the 1945 Constitution,” Jansen said, as quoted by detikNews on Sunday (1 November).

In the House of Representatives, the issue has become increasingly contentious, with the PKS and PDIP parliamentary groups discussing what steps to take next.