Ismail Sabri takes flak for appointing Muhyiddin as NRC chairman

PETALING JAYA: Enlisting Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin(pix) to take the lead in Malaysia’s economic recovery strategy has been described as the biggest blunder by the new government.

Senior fellow at the Malaysian Council of Professors Dr Jeniri Amir sees it as a conflict of interest given that Muhyiddin’s first priority would be to protect his own legacy.

“Apart from that, dynamism and motivation, both of which are qualities essential for the job, have been thrown out the window in favour of political expediency,” he told theSun.

“It is down to the principle of ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’,” he added.

Jeniri was commenting on the appointment of Muhyiddin as chairman of the National Recovery Council (NRC) and the deep misgivings and high level of criticism expressed by netizens.

The position is a ministerial-level appointment, marking Muhyiddin’s return to the Cabinet just over two weeks after he was replaced as prime minister by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“The question is why did Ismail Sabri appoint Muhyiddin? Do we not have people who have the capability and experience to take the job?” said Jeniri.

On June 15, Muhyiddin announced the introduction of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), a four-phase strategy to exit the Covid-19 crisis. A special Cabinet committee was also appointed to oversee the implementation of policies under the NRP.

In July, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz announced that the NRC, to be chaired by the prime minister, would take over from the special Cabinet committee.

Jeniri said that for the NRC to succeed, an open approach is needed when recommendations are made to the Cabinet. “We also need experts to take on the task,” he said.

“Muhyiddin did not make a difference in his 17 months as prime minister. What can he do now that is going to work? This is not good for the nation,” Jeniri said.

“But now that he has been appointed, he should be given the benefit of the doubt. He will have to come up with a plan within two months,” he added.

For Universiti Teknologi Malaysia geostrategist Dr Azmi Hassan, it is difficult to understand how a man who had already failed in the job be given the same task.

“Many people wanted Muhyiddin out because he failed to deliver during his term as prime minister,” he pointed out.

Azmi speculated that it could be down to the fact that Ismail Sabri needs the support of Bersatu, of which Muhyiddin is president, to stay in office.

Bersatu has 31 of the new government’s 114 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, second only to Umno, which has 38. Given the razor-thin majority the alliance has in Parliament, Ismail Sabri needs Bersatu on his side to hold on to power.

“Just like when he named members in his new Cabinet, Ismail Sabri had to please all parties in his coalition government,” Azmi said.

He said Ismail Sabri’s decision to appoint Muhyiddin was even more difficult to fathom given that just a few days prior, he had extended an olive branch to the opposition by asking them to join the NRC.

“It is mind-boggling. The people are confused,” he added.

He also noted that Muhyiddin had said that he would continue where he had left off in his Covid-19 fight.

“Muhyiddin thinks he had done a good job so far and that he was ousted only for political reasons,” he said. “He could not accept the fact that he might have failed in tackling the pandemic and that was the main reason he was ousted.”

Azmi said Ismail Sabri would have served himself and the country better if he had appointed Muhyiddin as minister mentor.

For a start, he added, the minister mentor would not have much influence over the formulating of government policies.