Economic council to act as advisory body: Kalla

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The planned economic council would serve as a think thank in the economic field for the government, while the execution of policies would remain in the hands of the existing government departments, vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla said on Saturday.

"The National Economic Council (NEC) will give advice to the government, while departments will execute policies," Kalla said after attending a meeting of the South Sulawesi Families Association (KKSS) at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

The members of the council would consist of economic experts, and private sector and other economic players, Kalla said.

"It (the NEC) will deal with macroeconomic policies. We'll talk about the details (of the NEC) after Oct. 5," he said.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) will announce the final election result on Oct. 5. With over 109 million ballots counted, the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla ticket has garnered 60.9 percent of the vote, compared to the 39 percent won by Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate, Hasyim Muzadi.

Kalla said there would be no overlapping task between the work of the council and that of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs as "each has its own functions".

Separately, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that it was Susilo who floated the idea of setting up an NEC and a National Security Council (NSC).

"But, I still don't know the structure," he told reporters after attending the event, saying that the councils would be outside the Cabinet.

Yusril, chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), who has been assigned to handle the legal aspects of the establishment of Susilo's Cabinet, said the likely president-elect had more freedom to determine his Cabinet structure after the House of Representatives failed to endorse ministerial offices bill.

According to the Constitution, the president must decide on his Cabinet based on the prevailing Ministerial Offices Law.

Without elaborating, Yusril said that some modifications of the current Cabinet structure would likely take place.

Analysts have said the two councils could help provide advice to the president on a cross-sectoral basis, although their effectiveness would ultimately depend on the effectiveness of the president in leading the government.

With the establishment of the councils, Susilo's planned cabinet structure appears to resemble that of the United States. Susilo has a masters degree in management from the U.S.

The U.S. National Economic Council (NEC), established in 1993 within the Office of Policy Development, is part of the Executive Office of the President.

Created to advise the president on matters related to U.S. and global economic policy, the NEC has four principal functions -- coordinating policy-making for domestic and international economic issues, coordinating economic policy advice for the president, ensuring that policy decisions and programs are consistent with the president's economic goals. and monitoring implementation of the president's economic policy agenda.

The U.S NEC comprises numerous department and agency heads within the administration, whose policy jurisdictions impact the national economy.

Susilo's planned NSC, which will be chaired by the president and made up of the Indonesia Military (TNI) chief, defense minister, coordinating minister for political and security affairs, police chief and other relevant figures, also resembles its counterpart in the U.S.

The US NSC, which was established by the National Security Act of 1947, is chaired by the president. Its regular attendees are the vice president, the state secretary, the treasury secretary, the defense secretary and the assistant to the president for national security affairs. The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is the statutory military advisor to the council and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency is the intelligence advisor.

The council also serves as the president's principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and cabinet officials.

It also functions to advise and assist the president on national security and foreign policies as well as to serve as the president's principal arm for coordinating policies among various government agencies.