Surakarta Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the eldest son of President Joko Widodo, attends a public meeting with the city council on Oct 19, 2023 in the Central Java municipality. - AFP
JAKARTA: The Surakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) accepted on Wednesday (July 17) a letter of resignation from mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka so he could prepare to take up his new role as vice president in October.
“According to the existing rules, a mayor can resign upon their death, on individual request” or when certain conditions warrant their dismissal, Surakarta DPRD Speaker Budi Prasetyo said on Wednesday during a plenary session that was live streamed on YouTube.
“In Gibran’s case, he himself requested to resign,” said Budi, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The council is now submitting its decision to the Home Ministry for final approval.
Regional lawmakers proposed during the same meeting that Deputy Mayor Teguh Prakoso replace Gibran as mayor. Gibran’s term as Surakarta mayor was originally to end early next year, prior to the inauguration of his successor as elected in November’s 2024 regional head elections.
Gibran tendered his resignation to the council a day before on July 16, accompanied by Teguh and Surakarta Secretary Budi Murtono.
“[I will be] preparing for my inauguration [as vice president] on Oct 20, there are certainly a lot of things I still need to prepare,” he told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the reason for his resignation, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Gibran said he had consulted with president-elect and Gerindra chair Prabowo Subianto and informed acting Central Java governor Nana Sudjana and Home Minister Tito Karnavian before tendering his resignation.
He also told reporters that he would be spending the rest of the day on Tuesday clearing out his office at the Surakarta administration building and that his family would be relocating to Jakarta on Wednesday, “since my kids are starting school on Monday”.
He added that his eldest son Jan Ethes Srinarendra was already enrolled at a school in Jakarta, though he did not say which school.
Gibran, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, is not a member of any political party at present.
He parted ways with the PDI-P to contest the 2024 general election in February, alongside Prabowo on the presidential ticket of the Gerindra Party-led Onward Indonesia Coalition against rival candidates Ganjar Pranowo of the PDI-P and Anies Baswedan.
Gibran was an entrepreneur who made his political debut in late 2019 when he joined the PDI-P. He ran for Surakarta mayor a year later on the ticket of the party. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
