JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com—Government Communications Agency (Bakom) head Syahganda Nainggolan said he had contacted presidential adviser Rocky Gerung after Rocky publicly suggested that Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka should resign over questions surrounding his educational documents.

Syahganda said on Saturday, Oct. 10, that Rocky Gerung had agreed not to repeat the statement following their conversation.

“I contacted Mr. Rocky Gerung, and he agreed not to make the same statement again,” Syahganda said.

The intervention followed Rocky Gerung’s appearance on the Akbar Faizal Uncensored YouTube channel, where he argued that Gibran’s voluntary resignation could prevent the education controversy from placing a political burden on President Prabowo Subianto.

“How elegant it would be if Gibran resigned,” Rocky said. “It would prevent public anger and keep the president from being associated with an allegedly illegitimate running mate.”

The reference to an “illegitimate” political partner represented Rocky Gerung’s opinion, not a legal finding against Gibran. The Constitutional Court (MK) did not invalidate Gibran’s position or order him to leave office.

The controversy followed the Constitutional Court’s Oct. 6 ruling in case No. 01/PHPU.PRES-XXIV/2026, which challenged the educational qualifications Gibran submitted when registering as a vice-presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

The court declared the petition inadmissible. It found that the applicants lacked legal standing and held that a dispute over Gibran’s former candidate status was no longer appropriate after his inauguration as vice president on Oct. 20, 2024.

However, the court also said it had not found convincing evidence of the foreign diploma, certificate or other document that formed the basis for recognizing Gibran’s education as equivalent to an Indonesian senior high school qualification, according to the MK official.

Gibran said he respected the judicial process and would continue performing his government duties.

“The most important thing now is that I will remain focused on working for the public and supporting the President’s vision, mission and programs,” he said in an official statement on Oct. 7.

Syahganda said Rocky Gerung had not fully understood the scope of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) before their conversation.

“He initially thought Wantimpres’s attribution included only the president. Wantimpres also advises the vice president,” Syahganda said.

Indonesia’s Constitution and Law No. 19/2006 formally tasked Wantimpres with providing advice and recommendations to the president. When Prabowo appointed 26 council members on Oct. 2, Wantimpres chairman Pratikno also described the president as the council’s sole beneficiary. The official mandate nevertheless covers matters related to the exercise of national executive power.

President Prabowo appointed Rocky Gerung to the council on the same day that he appointed Syahganda to lead Bakom. The State Secretariat confirmed the appointments through separate presidential decisions.

Syahganda’s account indicates that Rocky agreed to refrain from repeating his resignation proposal. As of Sunday, however, Rocky had not publicly confirmed the agreement in a separate statement.