Authority as chairman of recovery council unchanged, says former PM Muhyiddin

Former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin says his scope of duties and responsibilities as chairman of the National Recovery Council (MPN) remains unchanged although he is now out of the top office.

He said he and his successor Ismail Sabri Yaakob had reached an agreement about his scope of authority as MPN chairman.

“I had a discussion with the prime minister on my role,” he said in an interview with Astro Awani yesterday.

“Would it be like before when I was the prime minister, as I am now a former prime minister? Is there a difference in terms of power and authority?

“The prime minister told me to carry out my duties as before,” he said.

He said he had been entrusted with decision-making powers to ensure that policies made by the council are immediately implemented.

However, in terms of finances, he said, he had only limited power as all such issues must be brought to the Cabinet.

Muhyiddin also said he was aware of some who continued to claim that his administration had failed.

But he said the Perikatan Nasional government had been able to manage the Covid-19 situation with the rapid rollout of vaccines. He said such achievements were made possible through the strategies and pandemic exit plan pioneered during his tenure.

“We didn’t fail,” he said. “For example, we were able to secure our portion of the vaccines up to 130%.

“I told Khairy Jamaluddin who was the minister coordinating the vaccination programme to just buy the vaccines although in the beginning it was a bit unclear and nobody knew the price of the vaccines.

“Now we are able to give the shots to adolescents and implement the booster dose programme because of this. We have the supplies,” he added.

Given the economic initiatives undertaken by the government since March last year, he said, he was optimistic that the country would be able to recover in 2022.

When asked if he had any regrets about his resignation, he said he had never regretted his decision, adding that it was necessary in order to ensure that the country could regain its footing.

“I must abide by the Federal Constitution,” he said. “I had to resign, so that’s what I did.”