NU Scholar Inaugurated as Member of Presidential Advisory Board

President Jokowi congratulates Yahya Cholil Staquf after being inaugurated as a member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (31/5) (Photo: PR/Oji)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Thursday (31/5) at the State Palace, Jakarta, inaugurated General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Yahya Cholil Staquf, as a new member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres).

The inauguration ceremony of Yahya – who previously served as spokesperson for former president Abdurrahman Wahid –  began by the singing of the national anthem Indonesia Raya and was followed by the recitation of Presidential Decree Number 84/P of  2018 dated 3 May 2018 on the appointment of member of Wantimpres by the Deputy Minister of State Secretary for Apparatus Administration, Cecep Sutiawan.

Afterwards, Yahya took an oath before President Jokowi, and it was then followed by the signing of inauguration ceremony minutes.

Speaking to reporters after the inauguration, Yahya stated that it is his duty to answer a call from the President to join the Wantimpres. “I will do my best to fulfill expectations and duties assigned to me and to comply to the prevailing procedures and ethics,” Yahya added.

As a member of Wantimpres, Yahya admitted that he should be more careful in talking about the state and Government. “If there are strategic inputs for the country, they must be conveyed to the President directly in accordance with the rules,” Yahya said.

Yahya – who met with Vice President of the United States Mike Pence two weeks before the inauguration – also acknowledged that he did not have any idea why Pence wanted to meet him as he also did not know why President Jokowi appointed him as a member of the Wantimpres.

“I was contacted for the inauguration when I was still in the United States on 25 May. After I returned home on 28 May, the inauguration is scheduled to take place today,” Yahya concluded.

Also attending the ceremony were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Head of the Agency for the Implementation of the State Ideology of Pancasila (BPIP) Steering Committee Megawati Soekarnoputri, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Wiranto, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Minister of Manpower Hanif Dhakiri, Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of National Land Agency (BPN) Sofyan Djalil, and members of Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres). (FID/ES) (RAS/EP/Naster)