Kuala lumpur: The government’s decision to review the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) is not a hasty reaction, but rather one that has gone through a discussion process over the past two weeks, said Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil. He clarified that the discussions began with a draft presented by the Economy Ministry secretary-general to the Cabinet.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Fahmi mentioned that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had issued a directive to review the draft presented by the Economy Ministry secretary-general. “As you know, any policy, programme or decision must first be presented at a Cabinet meeting,” he stated. On Friday last week, the Prime Minister requested all ministries to study the draft and submit their feedback to the Economy Ministry.

Fahmi, who is also the MADANI government spokesman, further elaborated that a special Cabinet meeting was held last Monday to review feedback from all ministries. During this meeting, it was found that many matters raised by the ministries need to be considered by the Economy Ministry in drawing up the 13MP document. This was a significant reason for the decision in last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting to have Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah take on the duties and functions of the Economy Minister.

Earlier, former Economy Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli was reported to have questioned the government’s move to review the 13MP, labeling it as a hasty response to social media criticism. This followed Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar’s announcement that Amir Hamzah had been tasked with “reviewing and revamping” the 13MP, while concurrently performing the duties and functions of the Economy Minister, effective immediately. The 13MP is scheduled to be tabled in Parliament on July 31.