The Issue Of Jokowi's Fake Certificate Has The Potential To Be Politically Utilized

Joko Widodo (Jokowi) greets residents who come to his residence in Solo, Central Java, Thursday (2/1/2025). (ANTARA/Aris Wasita/aa)

JAKARTA The issue of fake diplomas that Joko Widodo has is said to be able to 'profit' the former President of the Republic of Indonesia, because the public is even focused on this issue rather than other cases that ensnared Jokowi.

The fake diploma polemic belonging to former President Jokowi has resurfaced after Mataram University lecturer Rismon Hasiholan Sianipar questioned the authenticity of Jokowi's diploma from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) via the Balige Academy YouTube channel last month.

In addition, there is also a lawsuit from a lawyer from Solo, Muhammad Taufiq, who formed a team of attorneys named the Plaintiff's Team for Real Certificate Evidence Jokowi Usaha No Shame (TIPU UGM).

The lawsuit was officially registered with the Solo City District Court on Monday, April 14, 2025. Apart from Jokowi as Defendant I, there are three other defendants, namely the Solo City General Election Commission (KPU), SMA Negeri 6 Solo, and UGM.

"I sued because our team found the fact that there was information stating that Pak Jokowi's high school diploma came from the UGM website which included SMA 6 Surakarta City (Solo). That's certainly not true," said Taufiq.

This is not the first time fake diploma cases have surfaced in Indonesia. In 2017, the public was shocked by the news of the alleged falsification of the Graduate Certificate (SKL) document from the level of master's degree and doctoral degree of the State University of Jakarta (UNJ) belonging to comedian Nurul Qomar.

At that time, he was the Chancellor of Muhadi Setiabbhi University (UMUS). However, the campus actually reported Qomar for allegedly using fake documents as one of the requirements to become the Chancellor of UMUS.

After undergoing a series of trials at the Brebes District Court, Central Java, the case of alleged falsification of SKL documents for the S2 and S3 programs, Qomar was sentenced to 1 year and 5 months in prison by the panel of judges.

"Declaring that the defendant Nurul Qomar has been legally proven and confirmed guilty of committing a criminal act using a fake letter. Sentencing the defendant to one year and five months in prison," said the Chief Justice, Sri Sulastuti, while reading the verdict at the Brebes District Court, Monday (11/11/2019).

Criminal law observer Masykur Isnan said that the use of fake diplomas could be threatened with a maximum imprisonment of five years and/or a maximum fine of Rp. 500 million based on the law and the Criminal Code. In addition, perpetrators can also be subject to articles of forgery of letters.

Masykur Isnan explained, in Article 69 paragraph (1) of Law Number 20 of 2003 concerning the National Education System, it is stated that anyone who is proven to use a diploma, competency certificate, academic, professional, and/false vocational degrees can be sentenced to a maximum imprisonment of five years and/or a fine of up to Rp. 500 million.

In addition, the threat of punishment for forgery of diplomas is also stated in Article 263 paragraph (2) of the Criminal Code concerning forgery of letters, as well as Law No. 12 of 2012 concerning Higher Education.

"In addition, those who help provide diplomas must also be held accountable," said Isnan to VOI.

In a political context, Isnan added, this could have a negative impact on figures accused of using fake diplomas. The public will question the credibility, integrity, and competence of the person concerned and related political parties.

"It can also affect the basis of support and electoral. In fact, political parties also have a big role in the recruitment process for members, administrators or who will later occupy public positions, cannot be arbitrary, and need accurate validation," he added.

Contacted separately, Executive Director of Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) Dedi Kurnia Syah said the problem of Jokowi's alleged fake diploma was a dilemma. On the one hand, the community needs legal certainty, because falsifying documents, especially since the document is involved in the requirements of the government system, is a criminal act.

"So it is necessary to investigate and get a commensurate punishment. Jokowi's certificate if it is fake then Jokowi needs to be tried," said Dedi.

But on the other hand, Jokowi is no longer in power, meaning that the issue of diploma should be irrelevant. Dedi emphasized that there are more issues that are more important, for example how Jokowi's involvement in alleged collusion, follow-up reports to the KPK by civilians regarding the alleged corruption of the Jokowi family, or Jokowi's policy that has the potential to disrupt our constitution.

For this reason, he hopes that the issue of Jokowi's fake diploma will not be used by the person concerned to obscure bigger problems.

"By looking at the many potential problems that lead to Jokowi, the issue of this fake diploma could be in Jokowi's favor," he said.

"Jokowi is not impossible to keep this issue alive, the public needs to pay attention to the situation, not to use it politically," added Dedi.

The same thing was conveyed by political analyst Hendri Satrio. He said the public should no longer need to fuss about fake diplomas because this polemic only worsens Indonesia's image in the eyes of the world.

Previously, the man who is familiarly called Hensa created a poll on the @satriohendri X account which questioned the impact if Jokowi's diploma from UGM was proven to be fake. From the poll which was attended by 5,498 respondents, 48 percent chose the option of our world if this diploma was proven to be fake. Another option, 'Jokowi' was embarrassed to get 6.1 percent of the votes, then UGM disbanded by 22.3 percent, and Jokowi must study again 23.3 percent.

According to Hendri, this issue no longer needs to be discussed because UGM has repeatedly clarified this issue.

"But for some reason, until now there are still many who fry this issue even though there are many more important issues, for example, about corruption of up to hundreds of trillions and the country's economy which is still uncertainly safe," he said.

The issue of fake diplomas is growing again, said Hendri, because political polarization is still sharp in society. He considered that there are still many groups who are not satisfied with their political heritage.

"The issue of this diploma is a reflection of the dissatisfaction of some groups against Jokowi, even though he has stepped down, his influence is still large, so a narrative like this continues to be turned on to attack the legitimacy of his leadership," concluded the man who is usually called Hensat.