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Analysis: Proposed new advisory council sounds more like than nostalgic trip
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Lawmakers attend a House of Representatives plenary session on July 9, 2024 at the Senayan legislative complex in Jakarta. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
T
he House of Representatives will soon begin deliberations on the creation of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), replacing the Presidential Advisory Council known as Wantimpres. The legislation is not seeking big changes other than in name and size of the council, from nine members at present, to whatever number the sitting president wants, raising questions about what is the real purpose of it all.
The choice of the name is certainly interesting. It is the same name that had been used for decades, from Indonesia’s independence in 1945 until it was dissolved in 2003, when there was a national consensus that the council, which was then mandated by the Constitution, had served no real purpose given that it had no real political power and influence. And the president should have enough advice without creating another layer for the state agency. The new proposed council will likely be weaker as it will be founded upon a law and not the Constitution. We should not expect any major departure from the current Wantimpres, other than the fact that it is going to be bigger in size. Certainly, it is not going to be supreme.
For president-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated on Oct. 20, there may be sentimental value in restoring the name. His grandfather Margono Djojohadikusumo was the chair of the inaugural DPA back in 1945, advising Indonesia’s first president Sukarno. Second president Soeharto, who ruled with an iron fist in 1966-1998, bloated the size of the DPA, parceling council seats (and the generous salaries that come with the job) to public figures, including former generals, who had served him well but for whom he had no further use, to retain their loyalty. Soeharto is Prabowo’s father-in-law, so there may be another sentimental reason for its return.
It is not clear, however, whether the idea to go back to the DPA came from Prabowo. The proposal to change is an initiative of the House, not of the government, and enjoys widespread multipartisan support. Deliberations will likely be a mere formality.
The Constitution, which went through a series of amendments in 1999-2002, no longer mandates the creation of an advisory council, but allows for the president to create one if they wished to. Then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono created Wantimpres in 2006, and when President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo came to power in 2014, he continued with the tradition of setting the nine-member council. The idea behind the original DPA was that it would act as a council of state comprising eminent wisemen/women, who given their expertise and knowledge, can assist the sitting president by answering questions he/she may have, and when requested, give recommendations. The president however is not under any obligation to implement them.
Wantimpres under president Yudhoyono and now under Jokowi rarely has made enough of a public impression to raise questions about its true values. Jokowi’s council of state is led by former general Wiranto, who had served as chief political minister in his first term. Like Soeharto, Jokowi uses the council seats to retain powerful loyalists as a parting gift.
Political pundits have linked the proposed DPA with Prabowo’s idea to copy the United States President’s Club, billed as the most exclusive fraternity, comprising former presidents. He had broached the idea through friends about bringing together former Indonesian presidents still alive, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Yudhoyono and soon-to-be Jokowi, under one roof. The club idea never gained momentum as only Yudhoyono had welcomed it.
