Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan announced on Friday that he was resigning from the Indonesian cabinet, saying he wanted to focus on his presidential bid ahead of this year's election.

"I am resigning from my position, and this is effective since January 31, 2014," Gita said in Jakarta. "And surely I've told this to the President."

Gita said he wanted to focus on politics, citing his participation in the Democratic Party's presidential convention – the party's internal mechanism to select its presidential nominee for the 2014 election.

Gita said he did not want his political bid to clash with his work as the trade minister, saying it would create a bad public perception.

"I first asked to resign last year after they invited me to join the convention," Gita said according to Indonesian news portal kompas.com. "I said I wanted [to resign] because I don't want my position as the trade minister to clash with my participation in the convention."

"The measure I'm taking is the best choice for the development of democracy in Indonesia. I thank my wife, who has been supporting in every step that I've made, including my decision to join the government more than four years ago," Gita added as quoted by Detik.com.

Gita hinted at his possible resignation on Thursday night through his Twitter account @GWirjawan. He tweeted "Tomorrow I will make an important decision in my career. Bismillah." He also quoted US boxing legend Muhammad Ali in another tweet: "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

Michael Umbas, the media deputy for Gita's campaign team, said Gita had submitted his resignation letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Democratic Party spokesman Ikhsan Modjo said the party appreciated Gita's move, and believed that it would not harm the cabinet because Yudhoyono, the party's founder and chairman, must have anticipated it.

"The decision to resign is an ethical consequence of his choice to join the presidential nomination for 2014-2019, although it is not required of him," Ikhsan said on Friday. "The Democratic Party will pray for his success."

Gita, 48, began serving as the trade minister after a cabinet reshuffle in 2011, replacing Mari Elka Pangestu, who now serves as country's tourism and creative economy minister. Prior to that, in 2009 he was appointed as the chair person for the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).

Gita is among 11 people participating in he Democratic Party's presidential convention. Other participants include House of Representatives speaker Marzuki Alie, State-Owned Enterprise Minister Dahlan Iskan, Paramadina University rector Anies Baswedan, former Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Endriartono Sutarto and US ambassador to Indonesia Dino Patti Djalal.

Dino earlier announced his plan to resign from his ambassadorial position in September of last year, saying that he also wanted to focus on the presidential convention. His resignation, though, was only approved by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in November, and he was still taking care of administrative work before being able to fully retire.