Indonesia’s Vice-President, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, resigned on Thursday amid a scandal over his high school diploma.
His resignation adds to pressure on the government, which faces widespread public anger over the economy, corruption, and how it has handled wildfires.
The Speaker of Indonesia’s People’s Consultative Assembly, Ahmad Muzani, said the 39-year-old submitted his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto and to parliament.
Calls for Gibran’s resignation had grown after the Supreme Court last month annulled his high school qualification.
Muzani said the Vice-President met with parliamentary leaders on Thursday to submit his letter of resignation from his position as vice president of the Republic of Indonesia.
Gibran told them that he had also sent the same letter to the President.
The Indonesian Vice-President has few constitutional powers beyond representing the President at official functions and taking over if the President is incapacitated.
His exit comes as thousands of Indonesians have protested in recent weeks over economic hardship, corruption, alleged authoritarianism and the government’s response to months of wildfires, whose toxic haze has made thousands ill.
The resignation is expected to strain the loose alliance between Prabowo and his predecessor, Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, who is Gibran’s father.
The Executive Director of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies, Khairul Fahmi, said the development marked a major political realignment but would not necessarily threaten the government’s stability.
“Jokowi will retain political influence, but Gibran’s departure could reduce his network’s direct access to power. For Prabowo, this creates greater room to consolidate his leadership and pursue his own political agenda,” he told AFP.
Punch Online reported on Wednesday that police detained over 150 people after protesters clashed with security forces in Yogyakarta, south-east of the capital.
The violence followed demonstrations in several cities on Tuesday over the economy, the wildfires and stagnant wages.
Police said about 100 people gathered near the Yogyakarta parliament at about 8 pm, throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at the building.
Security forces deployed tactical vehicles to disperse the crowd and seized six Molotov cocktails and 12 firecrackers.
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