Rafizi Fears Hasty Revamp Will Lead To Botched 13mp

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 The former economy minister says the education ministry, helmed by PKR colleague Fadhlina Sidek, had the most objections to his version of the 13th Malaysia Plan.
Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli had advice for finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan: ‘You’re a professional; there’s no need to follow the political rhythm’.PETALING JAYA: Former economy minister Rafizi Ramli has expressed concerns that a revamp of the 13th Malaysia Plan would leave the nation’s next five-year development plan botched by the government
Rafizi said that following his resignation from the Cabinet, there were those who wanted to overhaul the 13MP report to remove his imprint on the plan, although it had gone through all the necessary processes.
Rafizi also said that the education ministry, helmed by his PKR colleague Fadhlina Sidek, had the most objections to his version of the 13MP.
“I worry that, in your frenzy of managing the impact of my resignation, you end up doing hasty, shoddy work, putting in things without thorough consideration and thought, just to show to Parliament that this is ‘your work’,” he said in the latest edition of his Yang Berhenti Menteri podcast.
“Then it will end up being like the sales and service tax for oranges. You don’t look at all the data first but just employ a blanket approach,” he said, referring to the late decision to exempt apples and oranges from the expanded SST.
Rafizi said the blame for such last-minute changes then fell on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is also finance minister, rather than the officers in charge of drawing them up.
When he tabled the 13MP to the Cabinet in February, the ministries had been told to state their objections so that the matters could be negotiated.
“The one that had the most disagreements was the education ministry,” he added.
Rafizi said the Dewan Rakyat meeting at which the 13MP was expected to be tabled had been delayed by a month to July 21-Aug 28 as PKR’s elections approached. He said he was told that the government wanted the latest economic figures from the second quarter of the year before tabling the plan.
However, he questioned if this was necessary as quarterly figures were not as consequential since the 13MP was a five-year plan unlike the annual budget.
“If there’s a bit of difference in the figures, it doesn’t change the whole framework. And, at that time, there was nothing about overhauling the 13MP. That’s why when reports of the overhaul came about, it looked very reactionary. You can say what you want, but the people will say you’re acting like a child,” he said.
To finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan, who has been given oversight of the 13MP, Rafizi gave this advice – “you’re a professional; there’s no need to follow the political rhythm”.
Amir has been given the task of leading the 13MP revamp. He has said that the revamp became necessary following feedback from fellow ministers. - FMT

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