THE appointment of former Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, as the National Recovery Plan Council chairman, is timely and made in the right direction to ensure all recovery strategies are fully pursued.

His appointment will also ensure 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 normalization across all social sectors whilst moving forward into a full-scale economic recovery.

Malaysia has earned international praises 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 welcomed 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.

Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali in a statement today, stated that the appointment was made based on the government’s confidence in Muhyiddin’s ability to spearhead the nation’s recovery strategies, restore the economy, and improve people’s lives which had been severely affected by the pandemic.

During his term in office, Muhyiddin launched major economic stimulus and relief package to ease the burden of rakyat and initiated the country’s nationwide vaccination program.

Moving forward in what Muhyiddin has outlined as a four-phase recovery plan, the government will transition to each new phase depending upon three threshold indicators: the number of daily cases, the capability of the nation's public health system, and the percentage of the population who are fully vaccinated against the virus.

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.

- Azril Mohd Amin, Chief Executive Officer of Institute Masa Depan Malaysia