PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad chaired a meeting of his very own national recovery council, with Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah among those at the virtual meet on Thursday (Aug 5).
Dr Mahathir said that he believed all the attendees agreed to the meeting because they felt that something was needed to be done to help the country, which is facing the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that when he had proposed the council on June 10, where the number of new cases reported on that day was 5,671 with 73 people dying.
But as of Wednesday (Aug 4), the number of new cases reached a record high of 19,819 and a record high of 257 deaths.
“For me and my friends, we haven’t been able to wait without doing anything while the cases increase dramatically,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Aug 5).
He said that just as how Malaysians were helping those who had raised the white flag, they had to look and give solutions to the problems faced by the country and the people.
“For us, when the Covid-19 daily cases reached five digits and today it is more than 20,000 cases, the country has raised the white flag.
“My friends and I can no longer keep quiet and let the situation continue. With the experience and expertise on hand, we will give our views which we hope will be used by the government,” he said.
The attendees of the meeting were from the health, economic, education and legal sectors, as well as several politicians.
Dr Mahathir said in a press conference that the meeting started with a detailed briefing by Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham on the current situation and what is being done to fight the pandemic.
Those named by Dr Mahathir as having attended the meeting included former international trade and industry minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz, businessman Tan Sri Mohamed Azman Yahya, former banker Tan Sri Lin See Yan, economist Dr Jomo K. Sundaram, former chief executive of Petronas Mohd Hassan Marican, infectious diseases expert Prof Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman and legal expert Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi.
Others included Dewan Rakyat speaker Azalina Othman Said, Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, Lembah Pantai MP Ahmad Fahmi Fadzil and Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
“As I have explained before, the council does not have the political interest of politic parties or individuals and is to look for ways to help the country overcome the disaster. We can continue criticising the government but it will not solve problems and the ones who will suffer are the people,” he said.
