Jakarta. Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka has said he is ready to work from Papua if ordered by President Prabowo Subianto, following reports that he would be tasked with overseeing development in Indonesia’s easternmost province.

However, the State Secretary has clarified that no such directive has been issued by the president.

“As an aide to the president, I am ready to be assigned anywhere, anytime. This continues the hard work of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin on Papua,” Gibran told reporters in Klaten, Central Java, on Wednesday.

Gibran said the assignment to oversee development in Papua is not something new, as it was previously handled under former Vice President Ma’ruf Amin.

“This has been in place since the time of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin. I am just waiting for further instructions. I am ready (if assigned to oversee Papua),” said Gibran, who is also the eldest son of former President Joko Widodo.

He stressed that he has no issue working from any location, including Papua or the new capital city, Nusantara, in East Kalimantan, which is expected to be operational by December 2025.

“I can work from anywhere. It could be Jakarta, it could be at the new capital if it’s ready in December, it could be in Papua, or even here in Klaten, Central Java. Wherever we are, we can make it our office,” Gibran said.

However, State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi clarified that President Prabowo has not instructed Gibran to set up an office in Papua.

“We would like to clarify that it is not true, as has been reported or is circulating publicly, that the president has issued such an assignment,” Prasetyo told reporters at the parliamentary complex on Wednesday.

Prasetyo acknowledged that the Papua Special Autonomy Law allows for the possibility of Gibran working from Papua in his role as head of the Special Agency for the Acceleration of Papua Development. However, this is not an obligation.

“In the context of coordination, there may be occasions where he conducts meetings or even temporarily works from there, and that would not be an issue,” Prasetyo said.

Earlier, Chief Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Affairs Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra clarified that while Gibran chairs the Special Agency for the Acceleration of Development in Papua, the planned office in Jayapura is for the agency’s secretariat, not for the vice president personally.

The establishment of the agency falls under Article 68A of Law No. 2/2021 on Papua Special Autonomy, which assigns the vice president as its head but does not require him to be based in Papua.

“The secretariat and the personnel of the special agency will be based in Papua, but the vice president’s constitutional duty remains at the national level in the capital city alongside the president,” Yusril said on Wednesday.

He said that under the Constitution, the president and vice president cannot have separate seats of government.