KUALA LUMPUR – Following its official registration today, new political party Pejuang is mooting a National Recovery Council to help the country battle the Covid-19 pandemic, its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
The former prime minister said the party will propose this during the special parliamentary session at the end of the month.
Dr Mahathir said the council would be a non-partisan body comprising ‘specialists’ who were not necessarily politicians, but those with expertise in various fields including health and economics as well as psychology and sociology.
“It will be an independent body with the authority to help the people in carrying out the works needed, without representatives from political parties, but people with experience,? he told a press conference held virtually this evening.
Dr Mahathir did not name any specific candidate to lead the proposed council because he did not want to be accused of attempting to regain power.
Instead, he said that it “would be led by people who are qualified.”
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir, who is Langkawi MP said he was also planning to expedite vaccinations in his constituency which involved a population of 70,000.
He urged the government to make the necessary approvals to allow the vaccines to be distributed to the people on the island.
“We hope the government does not restrict this (effort) as people do not have enough work, or have money for food,” he said, adding that he received an offer for the supply of vaccines from China which had yet to be approved for use in Malaysia.
“China has injected more than 100 million of its population with this vaccine, so what tests does Malaysia want (to conduct on this vaccine)?”
However, he did not reveal the specific vaccine that Langkawi stood to receive.
Dr Mahathir’s press conference came after he was informed that the government had approved the registration of Pejuang as a political party.
“What we did (register) was in accordance with the law, there is no reason for the government not to approve our registration.
“For those who’d like to join Pejuang, you are welcome,” he said.
On the current developments in the country’s politics, he said he heard about Umno pulling the party out of the Perikatan Nasional administration, but the prime minister was apparently still entitled to his post, as indicated by the attorney-general.
“Thank you to the attorney-general for clarifying that (Tan Sri) Muhyiddin Yassin is still PM (prime minister), but when he was appointed PM, he didn’t have majority support as well. It’s all based on a lie,” Dr. Mahathir said.
Regardless, Dr Mahathir did not specify whether he supported Muhyiddin for the sake of the people and country during the pandemic, but said the proposed council and addressing Covid-19 is Pejuang’s priority. – The Vibes, July 8, 2021
