In Mahathir’s new Malaysia, what next for unelected ‘Jedi Council’ of Eminent Persons?

It’s been 100 days since the prime minister tasked five Malaysians with advising him on how to tackle the nation’s biggest problems. Now, amid concerns over accountability, it is time to hear their ideas

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Council of Eminent Persons chairman Daim Zainuddin with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing. Photo: EPA

Published: 5:00pm, 22 Aug 2018Updated: 5:55pm, 22 Aug 2018

Within days of the historic election that ended the Barisan Nasional’s 60-year grip on power in Malaysia, the country’s new leader Mahathir Mohamad set up the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) – five prominent Malaysians tasked with advising the fledgling government on how to deal with the nation’s most pressing problems within 100 days.

Now the mandate of the body – dubbed by some as Malaysia’s ‘Jedi council’ – is complete and the recommendations are to be presented to Mahathir upon his return from an official visit to China this week. However, the proposals are not for public consumption.

This secrecy – coupled with Mahathir’s statement that the CEP would not be dissolved just yet as there was still need for them – has fuelled debate among the public and opposition members.

“Malaysians have the right to know what the recommendations are and the government’s road map for implementation,” said political analyst James Chin, director of the Asia Institute at the University of Tasmania. “It is normal for these documents to be under the Official Secrets Act for now, as the CEP is an advisory body dealing with the prime minister and with cabinet. But the government must release them, as it is supposedly more transparent than the previous regime.”

Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok leaving a Council of Eminent Persons meeting in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Xinhua

Although the specific recommendations are classified, CEP chairman and former finance minister Daim Zainuddin has discussed the key themes into which the council had separated them: governance and institutional reforms; inclusivity; and sustainable economic growth and fiscal reform.

He also touched on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal, saying it was a priority and raising the possibility that more charges would soon be laid. Disgraced former premier Najib Razak has already been charged with abuse of power and alleged money-laundering.