Protesters at East Java DPRD Demand Gibran’s Impeachment

Dozens of people identifying themselves as members of the Nationalist Exponents Movement 96 held a protest outside the East Java Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building in Surabaya on Tuesday (10 November).

They called on the House of Representatives (DPR RI) to begin proceedings to impeach Gibran Rakabuming Raka as Indonesia’s Vice-President.

The group comprised various elements, including senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) sympathisers and cadres, as well as people calling themselves Pro Megawati Soekarnoputri, referring to the PDI-P chairwoman and Indonesia’s fifth president.

They displayed protest placards highlighting alleged violations by Gibran concerning the requirements for standing as a vice-presidential candidate.

Saleh Ismail Mukadar, the person responsible for the Nationalist Exponents Movement 96, said the protest was an effort to uphold the Constitution.

The group asked the East Java DPRD to pass on the protesters’ demands so that the national parliament would use its constitutional powers to impeach Gibran.

“We are therefore urging the House of Representatives, through the East Java DPRD, to exercise its powers and impeach Mr Gibran as vice-president,” Ismail said.

Ismail, a senior PDI-P cadre, said the impeachment demand had a strong legal basis in rulings by the Constitutional Court (MK) and the Supreme Court (MA).

Previously, the MK, in ruling No. 01/PHPU.PRES-XXIV/2026 on 6 October 2026, said it had found no convincing evidence that Gibran held a foreign diploma or degree that could be recognised as equivalent to senior secondary education.

This was followed by a Supreme Court ruling, No. 742 K/TUN/2026, dated 30 October 2026, which granted an appeal concerning Gibran’s education-equivalency documents.

The Supreme Court ruling declared the education-equivalency certificate at the centre of the dispute null and void and invalid.

Ismail and his colleagues considered the ruling binding. With the equivalency certificate annulled, they argued that Gibran no longer met the formal requirements to serve as vice-president or as a state official.

As an act of protest, demonstrators also defaced a photograph of Gibran at the scene.

“In our view, the security forces should even arrest him, because he conspired to commit a constitutional crime together with the General Elections Commission (KPU) and people at the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education,” he said.

Ismail said the demonstration would not be the last. He threatened to stage ongoing protests with larger crowds if their demands were ignored.

“We will press on and invite many people. They are all volunteers. We will expand the demonstrations, perhaps even hold them every day if necessary, until they hear us and the impeachment is carried out,” he said.