KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed National Operations Council (NOC), or Majlis Gerakan Negara (Mageran) could assist Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's administration as it would strengthen the federal government's authority.
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) information chief Datuk Wan Saiful Wan Jan said the prime minister instead wished to maintain the whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach.
He explained that the NOC previously was established to replace the Cabinet after the 1969 general election following the May 13 riots, however, the scenario now is different.
Wan Saiful said the Cabinet today can maintain its role during the current health emergency and was not related to security, as was the case in the aftermath of the May 13 incident.
"We also have the National Security Council (NSC) that is actively managing the pandemic. The NSC special meeting on Covid-19 management convenes at least twice a week.
"The other is the NSC special meeting on the Emergency Ordinance which convenes at least once a week. In addition to the weekly Cabinet meeting, there are at least four special meetings on the country's current affairs," he said on a Facebook posting today.
This, he said, was on top of the operational technical committee meetings.
Wan Saiful was commenting on Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's proposal to set-up the NOC during an audience with Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on Thursday.
The former Prime Minister said the establishment of the NOC would help solve the nation's economic, political, social and health issues brought about due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wan Saiful said all matters regarding pandemic management such as public health, quarantine, screening, treatment, vaccination and the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) were discussed in the meetings while the decisions were executed by the respective ministries.
This means, all ministries and government machinery were operating at an optimum level, while the decisions were made based on data and detailed facts to ensure the needs to protect lives and livelihoods were discussed in a regular and timely manner.
"Will the decisions change from time to time? As the data always changes and we are hoping for it, especially when we are moving towards returning people's life to normal.
"Are all the decisions made accurately? Definitely not all of them, but we work as a team to have higher possibility of making the best choice with what we have now, based on the latest data, while making corrections if need be."
Wan Saiful said Muhyiddin remained calm and focused in managing Covid-19 despite having to make some unpopular decisions that caused some people to accuse the government of delivering flip flop policies.
The Prime Minister he said was steadfast in delivering the best for the people based on the latest data, even if the decisions were unpopular and created doubts, he said.
"This makes the job harder for people like me to explain (the decisions) to the people as we know they are unpopular.
"But that's just how he works. #JalanTerus demi rakyat. It's not popularity that he seeks. If a decision needs to be made urgently for the people, it will be done immediately before having media engagement. The most important thing is he cares for the people, even if he has to face political implications."