Behind the Call to Remove Gibran

AS many had predicted, the installing of Gibran Rakabuming Raka as vice president through legal acrobatics at the Constitutional Court has left behind a ticking time bomb. If today retired Indonesian Military (TNI) officers are calling for his removal, tomorrow it could be other groups.

There is no smoke without fire. The call by the Retired TNI Soldiers Forum, which was signed by 103 generals, 73 admirals, 65 marshals and 91 colonels, has a political motive.

It began with concerns from retired military personnel, including former vice-president Try Sutrisno. They are worried that if President Prabowo Subianto, now 73, were unable to continue in his job, Gibran, as his deputy, would replace him until the end of the presidential term. The rise of Gibran, 37, whose capabilities are doubted by these retired officers, would pave the way for his father, Joko Widodo, to openly intervene in the government.

The root of all these problems is Jokowi’s desire to extend his authority through Gibran by bending the law. Thanks to this intervention by Jokowi, who at the time was still president, the victory of Prabowo and Gibran in the presidential election became unstoppable. But Gibran’s status as “an illegitimate child of the Constitution” will always be a burden on the Prabowo administration. He will always be a soft target.

Prabowo also played a part in this chaos. It was he who was so insistent on bringing on board Gibran, whose nomination was problematic, in order to obtain Jokowi’s support. Prabowo subsequently repaid this political favor by giving Jokowi an opportunity to intervene in his affairs. It was Prabowo himself who created this problem of “two suns” in his administration.

The attack on Jokowi through the demands of these retired officers reinforces this duality of the leadership. As well as proposing the removal of Gibran, they also question Jokowi’s legacy in the form of national strategic projects (PSNs). They have asked for PSNs to be halted, and they want the construction of the Nusantara Capital City to be discontinued. The most explicit point is that they ask Prabowo to take action against ministers and officials “who still have links with the interests of” Jokowi.

We can read this as an effort by Prabowo’s allies to use another group to corner Jokowi. As well as the issue of “two suns,” thanks to Gibran’s actions, relations between Prabowo and Jokowi have not been good recently.

Prabowo reportedly is uncomfortable with Gibran’s premature actions to prepare the battleground for 2029. Through his aides, Prabowo has urged Gibran to put an end to his Report to the Vice President program and to stop distributing Vice President Gibran’s Aid to high school students. The Palace has also asked Gibran to stop summoning ministers.

Meanwhile, politicians are preparing to take advantage of the situation. To demonstrate their loyalty, they clearly oppose any removal. But after the ball was set rolling by the retired military personnel, politicians are already waiting in front of the goal to score.

National Mandate Party (PAN) General Chair Zulkifli Hasan, for example, has said that his party will support Prabowo in the 2029 election, but will not support Gibran for the vice-presidency. This statement four years before the next election could be considered, at the very least, as PAN’s discontent with Gibran, if not support for his removal.

And the retired military officers know how to manage their demands. Their demand for the Constitution to be restored to its original form before the amendments is in line with Prabowo’s political agenda. Prabowo and his Gerindra Party have long made this part of their political manifesto. In other words, the retired officers are taking advantage of Prabowo to realize their ideals—despite the fact this would clearly damage our democracy and governance.

Politics in Indonesia is far from the ideal of independence proclaimer Mohammad Hata: a means of achieving goals, namely sovereignty and public welfare. Today, our politics is not far from the practices of mutual shoving aside and exploitation.

In the end, it is all about bargaining. The calls for the removal of Gibran might end up in the trash can, or might continue in lobbies in dark places. Meanwhile, the public will be left to sit and watch.