The document and the court challenge
The October 30, 2026, decision annulled Letter No. 9194/D. DJ/KS/2019 from the Ministry of Education's Directorate General of Basic and Secondary Education. Gibran submitted that document when registering to run for vice president. The court declared it legally void and required that it be withdrawn and destroyed.
Registered as case 742 K/TUN/2026, the ruling came from a cassation panel led by Yulius, head of the Supreme Court's Administrative Chamber. Justices Maftuh Effendi, Hari Sugiharto and Michael Renaldy Zein also served on the panel.
Advocate Subhan Palal, also known as H.M. Subhan, brought the cassation appeal after two lower-court setbacks. The Jakarta Administrative Court (PTUN) had found that it lacked jurisdiction and declared his lawsuit, case 62/G/2026/PTUN.JKT, inadmissible. The Jakarta High Administrative Court (PTTUN) upheld that outcome in decision 130/B/2026/PT.TUN.JKT. Subhan filed his cassation documents on September 22, 2026.
An earlier ruling on Gibran's candidacy
The Constitutional Court had rejected a separate request to disqualify Gibran on October 6, 2026. Petitioners included Denny Indrayana. The court held that Gibran ceased to be a candidate when he was inaugurated as vice president on October 20, 2024, placing the matter outside the process for resolving presidential and vice-presidential election-result disputes.
The Kompas.com column also highlights the Constitutional Court's finding that there was no convincing evidence Gibran held a diploma, certificate or foreign degree equivalent to the high school qualification required by the Election Law. The column interprets that finding as leaving his educational credentials open to challenge.
Treating both court decisions as final and binding, the columnist argues that the legal questions have been resolved and that responsibility for addressing Gibran's continued tenure now lies with politicians in Senayan.
Disagreement over the consequences for office
The column rejects the view that Gibran's passage through the General Election Commission's administrative screening secures his position. It distinguishes between his actions before the final ruling, which it regards as valid, and his status afterward, which the author says must be questioned because the underlying candidacy document is invalid.
KPU Commissioner Idham Holik emphasized that the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential nomination stages had already concluded with the elected pair's inauguration, citing Article 167(4) of the Election Law. He also noted that the defendant in the certificate case was the issuing ministry, not the KPU.
Freddy Alex Damanik, secretary general of Projo's central executive board, argued that Decision No. 742 K/TUN/2026 concerns administrative law, not the legitimacy of the election results. He said it cannot serve as grounds to declare Gibran's position invalid or demand his resignation. Any dismissal of a president or vice president, he said, must proceed through the mechanisms in Articles 7A and 7B of the 1945 Constitution.
Calls for a criminal investigation
In an October 31, 2026, statement, former Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud MD urged law enforcement to investigate the certificate's issuance as a possible criminal matter. He called for investigations of the KPU and the Directorate of Primary and Secondary Education.
Mahfud also alleged improper insertion of Article 18 Paragraph 3 into KPU Regulation No. 19 of 2023. That provision allows presidential and vice-presidential candidates with evidence of a higher-education degree to forgo proof of foreign high school graduation.
Aan Eko Widiarto, dean of Brawijaya University's Faculty of Law, cautioned that voiding an administrative certificate does not by itself establish a criminal offense: administrative and criminal law are separate legal regimes. He identified three parties whose potential liability could be examined: the issuing directorate, the KPU in its verification role, and Gibran as the applicant. Investigators could also examine possible corruption elements, including gratification or bribery, he said.
