Prabowo to Travel Abroad While Vice Presidential Seat is Vacant, Yusril: No Problem

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Prabowo Subianto is scheduled to visit abroad from November 14 to 16, 2026, despite the vice president's position being vacant following Gibran Rakabuming Raka's resignation.

The Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Prisons, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, stated that during the trip, Prabowo will not appoint an acting president as is usual when there is a vice president.

"The president plans to go abroad from around the 14th or so until the 16th. (The presidency) will not be filled by anyone," Yusril said at a press conference at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday (November 12, 2026).

Yusril explained that essentially, the vice president's role is to assist the president's duties.

Thus, if the vice president's position is vacant, no one is available to assist the president in the capacity of vice president.

Moreover, Yusril noted that Prabowo still has ministers in the Red and White Cabinet who can help run the government while he is abroad.

"So the president can manage the government from both within and outside the country, that's not an issue. There are other assistants to the president whose qualifications differ from those of the vice president, namely the ministers. Some ministers may accompany the president, while others remain here. They will carry out their respective duties," Yusril added.

Yusril stated that Prabowo will have no trouble communicating with his subordinates in Indonesia during his absence.

Therefore, Yusril affirmed that Prabowo is capable of fulfilling his responsibilities without a vice president for the time being.

"Actually, I mentioned earlier that the president is fully capable of performing his presidential duties temporarily without assistance from the vice president. So if we read the 1945 Constitution, it states that he is assisted. The president is assisted by a vice president, and the president is assisted by state ministers. The wording is the same, but the assistance from a vice president is different from that from state ministers," Yusril added.