The Malaysian Insight

DR Mahathir Mohamad said today his national recovery council (NRC) would be capped at 20 members so that it can function quickly. 

Writing on his blog, the former prime minister said it would comprise four politicians, five people for economic matters, six doctors, two individuals on legal issues and three on education.

For the economic slots, the 96-year-old suggested former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz, businessmen Mohamed Azman Yahya and Mohd Hassan Marican, and economists Lin See Yan and Prof Dr Jomo K Sundram. 

For the healthcare slots, Dr Mahathir proposed Dr Abu Bakar Suleiman, Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Prof Dr Lam Sai Kit, Dr Musa Nordin, Dr Amar Singh HSS and Dr Kumitaa Theva Das. 

For education, the Pejuang chairman proposed Tunku Ali Redhauddin Tuanku Muhriz, Mohd Shukri Ab Yajid and Samuel Isaiah while for legal matters, he suggested Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi and Prof Salleh Buang. 

The four politicians would be Azalina Othman Said, Hannah Yeoh, Fahmi Fadzil and Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman. 

“When I suggested the Mageran or NRC idea to the king on June 10, I did not give any name. The people named here also do not know about it,” said Dr Mahathir. 

But the Perikatan Nasional government has instead set its own NRC, which is headed by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz. 

“But asking the same people who failed when they are in government to repair their failures is not a good move,” said Dr Mahathir. 

“Appointing more ministers from the failed government is equally unwise.” 

He said a smaller group of not more than 20 would allow the NRC to decide on matters faster. 

“Had my NRC proposal been taken up, this body would be able to function immediately and hit the ground running,” said the Langkawi MP. 

Dr Mahathir was referring to the appointment of Wong Chun Wai, who is the current adviser and former editor-in-chief of the Star, which is owned by MCA, to the NRC. 

Other members of the NRC include former minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop, AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes and infectious diseases expert Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, SME Association of Malaysia president Michael Kang, Dr Sivakumar Thurairajasingam from the Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine & Health Sciences, child rights activist Hartini Zainudin, former education director-general Habibah Abdul Rahim and former Khazanah CEO Azman Mokhtar.

Last week, Tengku Zafrul was appointed by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to head the NRC to supervise the execution of the national recovery plan.

Tengku Zafrul said the council would comprise members from the private sector, civil society groups and industry experts.

He said the decision is aligned with the whole-of-nation approach formulated by the government to guide Malaysia out of the Covid-19 pandemic in a programmatic and safe way.

Under the recovery plan, states transition from one phase to another after threshold values for the three main indicators are met.

The three key threshold value indicators to move into phase 2 are: the nationwide number of Covid-19 cases reported in a day to drop to fewer than 4,000, bed occupancy in intensive care units reaches a moderate level and 10% of the adult population in the state has been vaccinated. – July 31, 2021.