KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman defended the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) today in response to criticisms levelled against the body by Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin recently.
The former Youth and Sports Minister had claimed in Parliament that the CEP had overstepped its authority, and called for it to be dissolved.
Khairy cited the example of CEP member Tun Daim Zainuddin’s visit to China to renegotiate Malaysia’s contracts and loans – a job he said which should have been handled by the Foreign Minister.
He also cited the CEP summoning Chief Justice Tun Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeals President Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin to make statements.
In a press statement released today, Syed outlined four points about the CEP to counter Khairy’s comments.
Firstly, he said that CEP members were appointed based on their management experience, so there is no issue of favouritism.
“Secondly, every decision and action made by the CEP must be approved by the Prime Minister. As in the case of Tun Daim’s trip to China, that was done after the approval of the Prime Minister. There should not be an issue of any CEP member acting on their own or beyond their authority,” he said.
Thirdly, Syed said that the CEP’s role is only to advise the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and that the Cabinet has the right to ignore or ask for adjustments to the proposals made by the CEP.
“The fourth point is that the CEP’s role is to advise the Cabinet for the first 100 days (of the new Pakatan Harapan government coming into power). There is no question of any clash of interest,” he added.
Syed said he is proud that the Malaysian government is consulting local experts and heads of their fields to contribute to the nation, instead of employing foreign advisors and paying them thousands of ringgit of the people’s money.