Dr Mahathir, please reveal the CEP report

Updated 7 years ago · Published on 27 Aug 2018 4:21PM · 4 Comments

THE announcement by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the Council of Eminent Persons’ report may not be made public is most surprising, unexpected, and even disturbing .

He made the statement at the Cities 4.0 and Business 4.0 International Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur just today.

We have all been waiting with bated breath for the revelations of this report for over 100 days now – but most of us will now be badly disappointed by possibly being denied sight of this important report.

Most Malaysians will be upset that the new Pakatan Harapan government, which promised this report, may not now want to make it public for its public interests.

We would ask: why is the CEP report even considered to be so secret that its recommendations may not be revealed? What is the basis and rationale for this unusual secrecy?

Why has the report been deemed so secret when it was prepared by very learned, trusted, expert and eminent Malaysians? The rakyat have the natural right to be fully informed of the thoughts, ideas, and issues raised and presented to our own government.

After all, the PH government was voted inter alia on the promises of more transparency, better consultation and higher integrity –  so why this change of heart and mind on the part of the newly elected government?

Have we waited 61 years for genuine change to now be frustrated and even disillusioned?

On behalf of the majority of Malaysians, I would therefore appeal to the wise, very  experienced, and inspiring new Prime Minister Dr Mahathir to please make the council’s report public. Please have faith to leave it to the people and voters to judge the report’s merits, feasibility, and acceptability, in our best long-term national interests.

* Ramon Navaratnam is the chairman of the Asli Centre for Public Policy Studies.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.

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Comments

  • Ramon : you are over dramatising mate. For starters , the full report cant be made public for obvious of reasons of 1 ) potential libel , 2 ) subjudice to ongoing criminal and civil investigations , 3 ) possible market sensitive information that are best addressed in a different fora or platform .. Relax la Tan Sri. There is always a time and place. And you know about that notion more than most of us.

    Posted 7 years ago by [email protected] · Reply

  • Why so inquisitive? The formation of the Council of Eminent Persons is Dr Ms prerogative. As he says d the outcome (report) is for his own consumption how he sees fit to use. Why so sibuk?!

    Posted 7 years ago by Thiruchelvam Thirunavukarasu · Reply

  • Nobody had been waiting for the report, as you claim. Only you maybe. What is important for the people is for the right actions to be taken under the rule of law.

    Posted 7 years ago by Thiruchelvam Thirunavukarasu · Reply

  • This piece of BAD news could be the best piece of news to Malaysian. We are talking about running a broken down government system and at the edge of bankruptcy . This is not politicking with talk alone ! The rakyat has suffer so much and they expected a miracle. By the way these are not very forgiving people . In no time in our election history has the party manifesto been put under the microscope so much !
    I believe Tun must has very good reason for doing this . Important part is that He is doing something to get us out of this saga !

    Posted 7 years ago by Chen Fui Chin · Reply