Solo. Future Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka announced on Tuesday that he is resigning as the mayor of Solo to allow him more time to travel across the country and prepare for his next role.

Gibran and President-Elect Prabowo Subianto will be inaugurated on October 20. The 36-year-old intends to spend the next three months identifying the main challenges facing the country to effectively serve as vice president from day one.

“I have plenty of tasks to do before the inauguration day,” he told reporters at the Solo municipal legislature, where he submitted his resignation letter.

He denied speculations that his early resignation was intended to allow him to campaign for other candidates in the upcoming gubernatorial and mayoral elections.

“No, it has nothing to do with the local leader elections because I’m not a political party leader,” he said.

“I will likely spend most of my three-month break identifying problems in places I have or haven’t visited before. Not just Jakarta but also other locations outside of Java. And of course, the IKN [future national capital Nusantara] is my priority,” said Gibran, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

The outgoing president initiated the relocation of the national capital from Jakarta to Nusantara, which is being constructed from scratch in a remote East Kalimantan regency.

The future capital is situated between East Kalimantan’s biggest city, Balikpapan, and the provincial capital, Samarinda.

Gibran said he has consulted his resignation with Prabowo.

“I have also bid farewell to the governor [Nana Sudjana] and talked with the Home Affairs Minister [Tito Karnavian]. In short, my resignation follows proper procedures,” he said.

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