Commission cites election law
Speaking to Kompas.com on October 31, 2026, KPU Commissioner Idham Holik cited Article 167, paragraph (4), of the Elections Law. Under that provision, he said, election stages conclude when the elected candidates are inaugurated, so the nomination process for the 2024 presidential and vice-presidential election has ended.
Idham also distinguished the commission's role from that of the party facing the lawsuit over Gibran's certificate. "The respondent is the ministry, not KPU," he said.
Certificate annulled and ordered destroyed
The Supreme Court decided case No. 742 K/TUN/2026 on October 30, 2026, granting the cassation appeal and the plaintiff's lawsuit in full while overturning the lower-court decision. According to Beritasatu.com and detikNews, it declared Gibran's high school equivalency certificate invalid and void by law, ordered it withdrawn from its holder for destruction, and directed the defendant, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendikdasmen), to pay court costs.
The document, Certificate No. 9149/D.D1/KS/2019, was issued in Jakarta on August 6, 2019. Its issuer was the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education within what was then the Ministry of Education and Culture, now Kemendikdasmen. Gibran submitted it when registering as a vice-presidential candidate for the 2024 election.
Plaintiff Subhan Palal, a lawyer who brought the cassation appeal against the ministry, told Kompas.com on October 30 that he had received news of the decision and supplied evidence of the ruling. Yulius presided over the Supreme Court panel, joined by associate judges Maftuh Effendi, Hari Sugiharto, and Michael Renaldy.
Lower courts had declined the case
Subhan's lawsuit began at the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN). In decision No. 62/G/2026/PTUN.JKT, dated May 21, 2026, that court declared the suit inadmissible because it lacked jurisdiction over a dispute involving the administrative requirements for a vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
The Jakarta Administrative High Court (PT TUN) affirmed that outcome in decision No. 130/B/2026/PT.TUN.JKT. Subhan then sought cassation, and the case file was sent to the Supreme Court on September 22, 2026, Kompas.id reported.
A separate challenge to the same certificate ended a day before the Supreme Court ruling. PT Mercy Toga Kirana, represented by Denny Indrayana, withdrew its lawsuit at the Jakarta State Administrative Court on October 29, 2026. According to Kompas.id, the plaintiff said the ministry had not produced the evidence it had requested.
Earlier findings and proposed election rules
In an earlier ruling, the Constitutional Court said it had found no diploma or certificate showing that Gibran had completed education abroad equivalent to high school, Kompas.id reported. It also said the attendance certificate underlying the equivalency document established only that he had attended a course, not that he had completed a level of education.
DPR Commission II, which formed a working committee for the Election Bill on October 8, 2026, said the Constitutional Court's ruling should guide the drafting of more detailed, transparent, and publicly accessible education requirements for candidates. Golkar lawmaker Ahmad Doli Kurnia likewise called for the requirements to be detailed, specific, and transparent.
