DR Mahathir Mohamad today pleaded with Putrajaya to allow him set up the national recovery council (NRC), saying they are not enemies but here to help the country.

The former prime minister said regardless of who the government is, it must set up the NRC and give it the power to help Malaysians.

“I plead with the government. We are not enemies, we are here to help. So, give us an allocation to set up (NRC) and help the people.

“The government doesn’t want to because they are political. They are worried about their positions.

“If we do something successful they won’t get the credit,” he said during an online forum on Facebook today.

On Sunday, Dr Mahathir said his NRC would be capped at 20 members so that it can function quickly.

He said it would comprise four politicians, five people for economic matters, six doctors, two individuals on legal issues and three on education.

Dr Mahathir said that they hope to set up the council soon to help the people with number of cases spiking to more than 17,000. 

“There are too many cases now and it is hard to handle. I hope the government doesn’t think we are enemies and want to bring the government down. 

“We just want permission to set up the council.”

On July 16, Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said a national recovery council has been formed to supervise the execution of the national recovery plan.

He said the council will replace the special cabinet committee formed to manage the recovery plan previously, and will be chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

Tengku Zafrul, the minister coordinating the recovery, said the new council will bring in members from the private sector, civil society groups and industry experts.

He also said that this decision was aligned with the whole-of-nation approach formulated by the government to guide Malaysia out of the pandemic in a programmatic and safe fashion.

As for Dr Mahathir’s council, he suggested former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz, businessmen Mohamed Azman Yahya and Mohd Hassan Merican, 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 Syed Abdul Rahman. 

Dr Mahathir said the government could not handle the Covid-19 pandemic so they suggested for the council to tackle the issue. 

“We suggested a council with experts separated from cabinet but the government came up with their own council. 

“I still believe our council is still relevant. But, we can always discuss who to be selected for the council. We need experts in health, microbiology and other relevant fields.

“I believe this council will be able to solve the (pandemic) problems. But my suggestion was not accepted by the government.” – August 3, 2021.