Putrajaya agrees to form National Recovery Council

The Perikatan Nasional government today agreed to set up a National Recovery Council (MPN) to oversee the implementation of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), days after it was mooted by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

With the establishment of the council to be chaired by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, the Cabinet’s special committee on the NRP will be dissolved.

A statement by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz said the Cabinet had also agreed to table the proposal for the council during the special Dewan Rakyat sitting on July 26.

“Based on a ‘whole of nation’ approach, MPN will appoint representatives from the private sector, industry experts and NGOs to share their experience and advice on various aspects of the NRP to enable Malaysia to emerge from this pandemic systematically and safely,” Zafrul said.

The move came two days after Mahathir revealed that Zafrul had approached him to seek his views on the government’s Covid-19 exit plan, where the former leader said he had mooted the idea for a council made up of experts.

Yesterday, Mahathir again urged for the setting up of the council, saying it should be given full authority.

He also said that it should not be influenced by any political party.

He said while the council might appear similar to Putrajaya’s recovery plan the latter had failed to reduce the number of Covid-19 infections in the country.