Prabowo taps tycoons, religious leaders as presidential advisers
The appointments filled a body that had been without members since the previous administration ended
[JAKARTA] Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto formed his first Presidential Advisory Council on Friday (Oct 2), bringing 26 people – including billionaires, retired generals and religious leaders – into his widening circle of aides nearly two years into office.
Billionaires Chairul Tanjung and Tahir, retired general Agum Gumelar and former Constitutional Court chief justice Anwar Usman were among those inaugurated to the board at a ceremony in Jakarta on Friday. Other appointees included Islamic scholar Muhammad Quraish Shihab; two former chairs of Nahdlatul Ulama, the nation’s largest Islamic group; and Christian, Buddhist and Confucian leaders.
Former senior minister Pratikno will chair the board, which advises the president on the exercise of executive power.
The appointments filled a body that had been without members since the previous administration ended in October 2024. They came well after a statutory deadline: a law enacted days before Prabowo took office required the president to appoint the board within three months. The same law removed a nine-member cap and allowed the president to determine its size, making Prabowo’s panel nearly three times the previous limit.
The appointments, which add to several panels that advise the president on economic and other matters, also extended a broader shake-up of Prabowo’s administration. A day earlier, he swore in more than a dozen new officials on Thursday, including a new national police chief and foreign minister.
Tahir, founder of Mayapada Group and son-in-law of Lippo Group founder Mochtar Riady, is Indonesia’s sixth-richest person and the 13th-richest in South-east Asia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. His conglomerate has interests spanning banking, hospitals, real estate and media.
Tanjung, who served briefly as coordinating minister for economic affairs under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is Indonesia’s 15th-richest person with a fortune of US$2.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His CT Corp oversees businesses from media and financial services to retail. BLOOMBERG
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