Gibran Rakabuming Raka

Gibran Rakabuming Raka (born 1 October 1987) is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the vice president-elect of Indonesia. He is currently serving as the mayor of Surakarta. He is the eldest child of the seventh President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. In the 2024 Indonesian presidential election, he ran as the vice presidential candidate of Prabowo Subianto.

Gibran completed his first nine years of education in Surakarta, before moving to Singapore where he studied at Orchid Park Secondary School. Despite his relatively short time in office, Gibran's impact on Surakarta has been significant, leading to him being named the most popular mayor in 2021, according to the Indonesia Indicator.

Early life

Gibran was born in Surakarta, Central Java, on 1 October 1987, as the eldest child and son of Joko Widodo and Iriana who have three children. Gibran completed his first nine years of education in Surakarta, before moving to Singapore where he studied at Orchid Park Secondary School. After graduating from secondary school, Gibran enrolled in UTS Insearch, the pathway program for foreign students who want to study at the University of Technology Sydney in Australia, but decided to move back to Singapore for his college undergraduate education. He obtained his diploma from the Management Development Institute of Singapore in 2010, with a degree from the University of Bradford.

Business career

After a couple of years working for his family's furniture business, Gibran in 2010 founded Chilli Pari, a catering business based in Surakarta. According to Gibran, he was inspired to set up the company after noticing the lack of a catering service for a conference center owned by his father. Jokowi, who intended for Gibran to inherit the leadership of his furniture business, initially opposed his eldest son's decision to become a caterer. However, the company grew and became focused on providing services for wedding parties.

Gibran then in 2015 started Markobar, a martabak chain, which opened in 29 locations in Indonesia by 2017. Jokowi said in 2017 that though he did not initially approve of his son's food business, Gibran's company ended up being valued higher than his furniture company. Gibran's reported wealth, filed in 2020 as a prerequisite to run for office, was reported at Rp22.1 billion.

Political career

Mayor of Surakarta

In July 2019, Gibran was named a favorite candidate for the 2020 Surakarta mayoral election, according to a survey by Slamet Riyadi University based in the city. The mayor of Surakarta was his father's position before becoming Governor of Jakarta and later President of Indonesia Two months after the survey, Gibran registered as a member of PDI-P, his father's political party, to run in the mayoral election. PDI-P officially endorsed Gibran as their mayoral candidate in July 2020, pairing him with city council speaker Teguh Prakosa.

Realizing it would be futile to challenge Jokowi's influence in the race, all parties represented in the city council endorsed Gibran except the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), potentially creating an uncontested election. However, Bagyo Wahyono, a tailor by profession, registered as an independent candidate and was approved on 6 September 2020. In the election itself, Gibran won a landslide victory after winning 86.53 percent of votes (225,451 votes). Besides benefitting from his status as the son of the incumbent president and the city's most popular former mayor, Gibran's campaign spent nearly 30 times more compared to Bagyo's.

Despite his relatively short time in office, Gibran's impact on Surakarta has been significant, leading to him being named the most popular mayor in 2021, according to the Indonesia Indicator (I2). This recognition is attributed not only to his close relationship with his father, President Joko Widodo, but also to his proactive steps in addressing the impact of Covid-19 and promoting policies that garnered substantial media coverage.

In aftermath of his winning in 2024 election and being elected vice president, he resigned from his post as Mayor of Surakarta on 16 July 2024.

Vice-presidency

Candidacy

In late 2022, several Jokowi-supporting groups began to endorse Gibran as a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 Indonesian presidential election. At the time of the endorsements, the criteria for becoming a vice presidential candidate included being 40 years or older, while Gibran would be 37 at the time of the election. To enable Gibran to run, the Constitutional Court of Indonesia under the leadership of Gibran's uncle-in-law Anwar Usman on 17 October 2023 made a controversial ruling that added an exception to the minimum age for individuals who had been elected as regional leaders. Four days later, on 21 October 2023, the Golkar party which had been part of Prabowo Subianto's coalition declared Gibran as the party's vice presidential candidate although he was still part of PDI-P.

Prabowo announced Gibran as his official running mate the following day. Gibran was absent during the announcement due to his mayoral work in Surakarta. He then sent a letter to his father, the president, the next day, to request permission.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) leadership was found to have committed ethics violations surrounding Gibran’s vice presidential registration for allowing him to register his candidacy before the commission had adjusted the age minimum for candidates in its internal regulation.

Election

After the election which took place in February 14, Prabowo and Gibran took the lead in the quick counts with an average percentage of 57% compared to the Anies-Muhaimin ticket with an average of 27% and Ganjar-Mahfud ticket with an average of 16%. The percentage indicated that Prabowo and Gibran won the election in the first round.

Controversies

Vice-presidential candidacy

Gibran's vice-presidential candidacy has been deemed controversial due to his young age of 36. As the Constitutional Court under Anwar Usman's leadership has ruled that he can run for vice president through an exception for elected regional leaders, Gibran's eligibility for candidacy has been challenged repeatedly. The KPU was found to have committed ethics violations surrounding Gibran's vice presidential registration for allowing him to register his candidacy before the commission had adjusted the age minimum for candidates in its internal regulation. A lawsuit was filed by the Indonesian Democracy Defenders (TPDI) and the Indonesian Advocates Movement (Perekat Nusantara) against Joko Widodo, Gibran Rakabuming, Anwar Usman and First Lady Iriana alleging nepotism and political dynasty on the part of the respondents, but was dismissed by the Jakarta State Administrative Court a day before the election. Due to the decision and Gibran's lack of political experience, he was referred as "nepo baby" by Al Jazeera.

Sulfuric acid gaffes

In one of his campaign activities on 3 December 2023, Gibran said that one of the solution to stunting for pregnant mothers is to consume sulfuric acid instead of folic acid, which he apologized and later correct himself on the next day. For his statements, he was ridiculed by rivaling supporters and even Anies Baswedan, who openly ridicule him by saying that pregnant mothers can just get it from a plant-based food and not in a workshop.

Personal life

On 11 June 2015, Gibran married Selvi Ananda, the winner of the 2009 Puteri Solo (Miss Solo) beauty pageant. They met when Gibran was a jury in that competition. The couple's first child, a son called Jan Ethes Srinarendra, was born on 10 March 2016. On 15 November 2019, Gibran's wife gave birth to a daughter at the Muhammadiyah Hospital in Surakarta. She was named La Lembah Manah.

Gibran is a fan of FC Barcelona and admitted that he is a long time fan of the club. During his campaign for mayor in August 2020, he wore the club's jersey during an online exercise session with his supporters. Gibran also a fan of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and The Adventures of Tintin, but he often uses Naruto in his appearance to the media.