JakartaPost-Nov 10
Three Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) politicians have jumped ship to distance themselves from Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as the House of Representatives prepared for a new sitting session on Tuesday, potentially setting the course of the growing impeachment calls against him. High-ranking politicians have resigned from the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI) and pledged loyalty to President Prabowo Subianto, distancing themselves from Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, whose fate may now hinge on the House of Representatives, as lawmakers return from recess on Tuesday. On Monday night, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced his resignation from his position as PSI secretary-general. “There is only one reason: I want to [serve] full time and fully concentrate on assisting President Prabowo Subianto [in my role] as forestry minister,” he said in a statement. The announcement came around the time deputy culture minister Giring Ganesha and deputy population minister Isyana Bagoes Oka also canceled their nearly decade-long memberships at the PSI. The PSI, which former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep chairs, endorsed the presidential bid of Prabowo and his running mate Gibran, who is also the oldest son of Jokowi, during the 2024 election. Jokowi is a PSI member, while Gibran is not a member of any party. The small, relatively young party owns no seats in the House. But it has, in recent weeks, become the lone voice openly opposing the growing impeachment calls against Gibran that come from political parties in the legislature. The resignations that hit the PSI came a day before the House returned from a month-long recess on Tuesday to decide on Gibran’s fate as vice president, following a Supreme Court ruling invalidating the education certificate that Gibran used to qualify for the 2024 election. Read more at:
