This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 13, 2019

SEPANG: Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali has refuted the claim that the Economic Action Council (EAC) was created because Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is unhappy with the current cabinet’s performance.

“It’s not true. It is not about one minister. In Pakatan Harapan, we work collectively, so that’s why there is a council,” he said, in response to assertions by the prime minister’s media adviser, Datuk A Kadir Jasin, that the council’s creation could allude to the current cabinet not being able to handle issues related to economy, finance and the welfare of the people.

Mohamed Azmin, who is among the 16 EAC members, said the council comprises experts as well as those with a good reputation among the public.

“The council comprises people with different sets of expertise. All their inputs are important and we will use them to decide on the right course of action,” he told reporters after the official launch of Amal by Malaysia Airlines.

Dr Mahathir announced on Monday the formation of the EAC comprising himself as chairman, along with several ministers, as well as business and economic leaders.  Mohamed Azmin said the new council, which will be action-oriented, will work on addressing issues such as the people’s wellbeing and rising cost of living.

“We already have a long-term economic policy. We just need to work on the implementation,” he said, adding that he did not know when the first council meeting would convene but expected it to be soon.

In a blog post, Kadir wrote that there are “implicit and explicit” reasons behind Dr Mahathir’s formation of the EAC.

“The explicit reason is Dr Mahathir needs a special body to scrutinise and decide on matters related to pertinent and urgent issues about the economy, finance and the welfare of the people.

“The implicit reason is the prime minister is directly admitting that the current machinery, especially the cabinet, is not enough to handle the issues faced,” he said.

He added that the reality was that after eight months governing the country, the PH administration had not produced any tangible results for the public.