We don’t need a political crisis, says Tengku Zafrul

 

Finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz has admitted to a ‘less than ideal’ political situation in Malaysia. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia does not need a political crisis, as it is already facing a dual economic and health crisis, says finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz.

In an interview with South China Morning Post (SCMP), he admitted a “less than ideal” political situation.

“If we look at where we are today, if you want me to be very honest, it is of course politically less than ideal,” he said.

He was asked if Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had the support of enough MPs to survive a no-confidence vote.

Tengku Zafrul said he hoped political parties can work together in the future, maintaining that he will remain apolitical and would not be standing in the coming elections.

On the trust deficit for the government of the day, he said he is “cautiously optimistic” that Putrajaya would be able to achieve its goals in curbing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think at the end of the day, it’s about how we execute the plans that we have,” he said.

“We said we could go up to 200,000 … 300,000 (or) 400,000 (vaccinations per day) in a matter of weeks and we have achieved that.

“But when we first announced that, obviously people were sceptical and you know people thought we couldn’t achieve it.”

Vaccinations nationwide under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (PICK) have picked up with an average of over 400,000 doses administered daily over the past week, after months of slow progress.

Tengku Zafrul gave an assurance that MPs would be able to ask questions on the national recovery plan during the upcoming Parliament meeting from next Monday.

He also spoke of further plans to host a second round of meetings with the opposition this week to understand their proposals, adding that talks with the opposition, held last week, were “very productive”.

It was reported previously that the finance minister held talks with PKR leaders and other opposition members such as former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.

“It’s important for people like me especially who are trying to draft and formulate this recovery plan that we listen,” he said.

On criticism that the government had failed to provide enough aid, Tengku Zafrul said his “conscience is clear”.

“I don’t think anyone knows what to do, really. There is no so-called precedent nor textbook I can refer to. So it’s important that we do our best … (and) we all together unite to win the war against Covid-19.”

Meanwhile, he expects unemployment to rise even further than the high 5.3% reported in May.

The health ministry reported 10,710 Covid-19 cases and a record high 153 deaths yesterday. - FMT