Susilo appoints Sjahrir as advisor

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Tuesday appointed economist-cum-politician Sjahrir as his personal economic adviser.

After meeting with the President at the State Palace on Thursday, Sjahrir said Susilo had asked him to give advice on economic affairs and the settlement of business disputes.

"I was asked by the President to be one of his personal advisers in the economic sector," he said.

Sjahrir -- who earned his PhD in political economy and government at Harvard University in 1983 -- has been an outspoken critic of the government's economic policy.

Having influential figures of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Susilo's Cabinet -- including Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie -- has been Sjahrir's main concern.

He set up a political party called the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB) in September 2002. The party -- comprising noted academics, media figures, businessmen and economists -- slumped in last year's general election and failed to win a seat in the House of Representatives.

With the appointment, Sjahrir becomes Susilo's third personal advisor after political and social affairs adviser TB Silalahi and international affairs advisor Ali Alatas.

Silalahi -- who was also Susilo's tutor in the military -- is a former Army general and served as a minister during the administration of former President Soeharto, while Alatas served as foreign minister under the Soeharto and BJ Habibie administrations.