COMMENT | Suggestions for finance minister's advisory committee

COMMENT | Before going on to the suggestions for the Advisory Committee to the Finance Minister (ACFM), it may be appropriate to make a couple of comments.

First, this is not at all like the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) set up in May 2018 after the Pakatan Harapan victory by then-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad with former finance minister Daim Zainuddin as head and four others which also included current ACFM chairperson Mohd Hassan Marican.

The scope is much smaller now compared to the wide-ranging powers that Daim had and which he used to make some rather questionable decisions, some of which appeared to be aimed at settling old scores.

As it should be, the powers of the new ACFM will be restricted to making recommendations to the finance minister, who is also the prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim - there will be no executive powers in other words, unlike the...