LANGKAWI: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has described the government's move to appoint politicians to fill positions with ministerial status as a 'waste of money' and should be stopped.

Instead, he said, the allocation paid to such individuals should be used by the government to help the people who are in a difficult period due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Mahathir, who is the Chairman of Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), also does not agree with the involvement of politicians in government bodies as it only gives great benefits to certain individuals only.

In this regard, he said it is an obligation of the government led by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to place the problems faced by the people as the priority that needs to be resolved through the National Recovery Plan (PPN) which is currently underway.

"Whichever (political matters or appointments) that can be postponed, we should postpone.

“What we need to prioritise is the people's fate, that's what's important, because they are afraid of getting infected, there have been many who died, and many can't stand the lockdown.

"The government must help them. If the money (is to be paid for things) that are really not important, we (need to) set them aside, like wanting to give positions with ministerial status…

“They are all not important but (the government seems to have) the money for that, there are all kinds of funds for political things but the people's problems are not given attention," he added when met at the Langkawi Member of Parliament Service Centre in Kuah for the #PulangKeLangkawi programme on Friday.

In the same development, Dr Mahathir said he had never received an official offer from any party including Ismail Sabri to fill the position as chairman of the National Recovery Council (MPN).

However, the Langkawi Member of Parliament confirmed that there had been discussions involving him with the Prime Minister on the matter before.

On Thursday, the chairman of MPN, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin expressed the hope that the PPN that he had introduced earlier could be implemented quickly.

According to him, the recovery process can no longer be delayed as the government has incurred exorbitant costs in the past year following the COVID-19 pandemic.