Jakarta, NU Online
Hasyim Muzadi, leader of the country’s largest Muslim organizaton Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), said he hoped the newly formed Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) would really play an effective role.

"We hope the Wantimpres will provide good advice to the president and  also hear and accept advice from the people," Muzadi said at his office here on Thursday.

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He said Wantimpres should play an effective role so that it would not leave the impression that it was set up merely to meet a legal requirment.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono established the Wantimpres on March 26 and has selected nine people from various disciplines and backgrounds to serve as its members.

The persons named as Wantimpres members were Adnan Buyung Nasution, Emil Salim, Prof Abdul Gani, Subur Budi Santoso,  Ma’ruf Amin, TB Silalahi, Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, Ali Alatas and Syahrir. They would  be officially installed on Tuesday next week.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a meeting with nine would-be Wantimpres members  at his office here on Wednesday.

The president told them their first assignment: to offer him views on whether or not the country’s 1945 Constitution needed to be amended for the fifth time.

"The Council was asked (by the president) to provide advice on whether or not the Constitution needs another amendment. Of course, the council cannot provide its advice overnight because it will need time to make a thorough and complete analysis," Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi told the press here on Wednesday.

Adnan Buyung Nasution said  the president at the meeting asked the council to give him advice on 12 problems, one of which was in the legal field, namely  whether or not the Constitution needed another amendment. Indonesia’s original Constitution was formulated in 1945 but has since 1998 been amended four times.

"There are 12 problems on which the president wants to have the Council’s advice. They concern matters in various fields including the environment,  economy and law. But on one problem the president wants the Council  to give its advice soon, namely on whether the Constitution needs to be amended again," Nasution said. (ant/mad)