There is no need to revive the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) as it had been riddled with "misconceptions", said Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

The economist, who is a former member of the five-member council, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, however, can engage them individually should the premier needs their services.

"We can continue, but not as CEP. There are too many people who have misconceptions about CEP. A lot of criticisms, and there is no point to answer these criticisms. Just close it down.

"If the government wants to get CEP members to do something useful for the government or Tun Mahathir, by all means. I think everybody who was in CEP is willing to help.

"But the CEP itself had become controversial, and the government should not be distracted by unnecessary controversies," he told reporters earlier today.

Jomo was responding to a question on the possibility of CEP services being continued after its 100-day term expired last week.

Among the misconceptions, he added, was that CEP members were doing the service for their individual benefits and that they had been "doing a lot of things" which they did not.

"(When) we started off, there was a lot of goodwill. But now a lot of the goodwill has evaporated. So why bother? Why keeping it going, reviving controversy for nothing?"

Jomo said the reason they accepted the responsibility was to help Mahathir, and that he believed that there are certain areas where the premier would need help from former CEP members.

"He should call upon us individually to help him with specific tasks. And that should be done," he said.