MUHYIDDIN Yassin is not qualified to head the National Recovery Council (NRC) following his dismal performance in handling the Covid-19 pandemic as the prime minister, P. Ramasamy said today.

The Penang deputy chief minister said the NRC itself, set up by Muhyiddin when he was the PM, was unnecessary, being merely a public relations exercise.

“Since there is no need for the NRC, why then appoint Muhyiddin (to chair it) who has been literally disgraced?,” said Ramasamy.

“I don’t think Muhyiddin’s appointment as the chairman of the NRC has anything to do with the recovery of the nation from the terrible pandemic.

“Why is there a need to discuss recovery when the pandemic has not been contained?

“Even if there is need for early recovery plans, Muhyiddin, given his dismal performance, is hardly qualified to hold the position,” said the DAP leader in a statement.

Yesterday, Chief Secretary to the Government Mohd Zuki Ali announced that the cabinet had on September 1 appointed Muhyiddin the NRC chairman with ministerial status.

In response, Muhyiddin said the new responsibility entrusted to him will enable him to continue the efforts and plans he had started while in office to help the nation recover from the Covid-19 epidemic.

Ramasamy, however, said the appointment only reflected the sad situation of the nation as a whole, with past and present leaders failing the country miserably in not containing the health crisis and failing to address issues of corruption and financial scandals.

He said this was also evident in Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s reappointment of “three useless envoys” to the Middle-East, China, and East Asia.

“Malaysians are worried not because they will have nothing to contribute, but that taxpayers money will go down the drain,” he said.

Ismail replaced Muhyiddin as the prime minister on August 21 after the latter lost the support of Umno.

Ismail has retained most of Muhyiddin’s cabinet, swapping the portfolios of some of them. – September 5, 2021.