KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's appointment as the National Recovery Council (NRC) chairman is timely and made in the right direction to ensure all of the nation's recovery strategies from the Covid-19 pandemic are fully pursued, an analyst said.
Independent think tank Institut Masa Depan Malaysia chief executive officer Azril Mohd Amin said the former prime minister's new appointment paved the way for the continuity and stability in efforts to implement the nation's exit strategy from the Covid-19 health crisis.
"In the newly created ministerial position, Muhyiddin will oversee a multi-phased plan to guide Malaysia through the transition from crisis management to responsible normalisation across all social sectors while moving forward into a full scale economic recovery.
"Malaysia has earned international praise for its even-handed management of the pandemic during Muhyiddin's tenure as prime minister. He drafted the roadmap to exit the crisis that the present government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has adopted.
"Observers welcome the appointment as both a wise move to limit the potential disruption in the country's approach to the pandemic in the wake of recent political turbulence and also as a well deserved recognition of Muhyiddin's skillful statecraft," said Azril in a statement today.
Azril said Muhyiddin, during his term in office, had launched a major economic stimulus and relief packages to ease the people's burden and initiated the country's Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme.
He added that Muhyiddin had outlined a four-phase recovery plan which would see the government transition to new phases based on three threshold indicators such as the number of daily Covid-19 cases, nation's public health system and vaccination rate.
"Significant progress has already been achieved particularly in the area of vaccination. Many experts predict that with the appointment, the country will continue to move progressively through each subsequent phase of the recovery roadmap," said Azril.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali today announced Muhyiddin's appointment which was agreed by cabinet members in a meeting on Sept 1.
Mohd Zuki said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had been informed of the appointment.