UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has once again doubled down on calls for the National Recovery Council (NRC) to be abolished, claiming that council chairperson Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was using it as a platform for his “political propaganda”.
This comes after Muhyiddin had blamed the Government for its delay in implementing the council’s many recommendations for economic recovery.
The former prime minister had previously expressed dissatisfaction that the council’s recommendations to kickstart the economic recovery post COVID-19 were put on the back burner and had called the delay “unacceptable”.
On the abolishment of the NRC, Zahid said the council should be dissolved because its functions were unclear, unnecessary and overlaps with the roles of thinktanks and other government agencies that act as advisors and executors.
“Ministers also constantly coordinate the functions of agencies and bring proposed policies to the Cabinet for consideration before they are passed. This alone should be sufficient for the Government to run smoothly,” the Bagan Datuk MP said in a Facebook post.
According to Zahid, the very fact that NRC is chaired by Muhyiddin – who is neither the prime minister nor a subject matter expert – has also made the council seem irrelevant.
Political ammo
“The NRC chairperson is also using the council as a platform to legitimise his political propaganda,” Zahid continued.
“During the campaigning period in the Melaka and Johor state polls, Muhyiddin had used recommendations made by the council as ‘political ammo’ to portray the Government as a failure if the proposals are not implemented.
“This is despite the fact that the NRC merely advices and gives recommendations to the Government.”
Zahid said rather than complaining about the unimplemented recommendations Muhyiddin ought to be thankful for the fact that the Government had implemented 16 out of the 69 recommendations given by the NRC.
“Doing so is evident that the Government is still taking the council’s views seriously despite its role being unclear, unnecessary and overlapping,” he added.
In pointing out that the country needs political stability to ensure many meaningful policies are made, Zahid expressed hopes that should Barisan Nasional (BN) and UMNO wins the 15th general election the NRC or other similar councils would no longer be needed.
Previously Zahid had suggested that the NRC be scrapped as it is no longer needed or effective and goes against the latest efforts by the Government to address issues faced by the people.
He also said that the NRC did not produce much results and was merely established as an advisory platform. – Sept 28, 2022
