JAKARTA: Indonesia’s vice president resigned on Thursday in the midst of a scandal over his high school diploma that has added to pressure on a government facing widespread dissatisfaction over the economy, graft and wildfires.
There had been repeated calls for Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 39, to step down following a Supreme Court ruling last month to annul his high school qualification, obtained abroad. On Thursday, he submitted his resignation to President Prabowo Subianto and parliament.
Prabowo told reporters he had accepted Gibran’s resignation “with a heavy heart” and praised him for acting “for a greater cause, for the interests of the nation, the state, and the people of Indonesia”. Gibran said the decision had not been an easy one but was taken in the “greater interest”.
“This decision is my personal decision and has nothing to do with diplomas; once again, it has nothing to do with diplomas. All my educational documents exist, are complete, and I have already submitted them to the court,” he said in a video statement. Indonesia’s vice president does not have many constitutionally defined powers apart from acting as the president’s representative at official events and taking over if his boss is incapacitated.—AFP