KUALA LUMPUR – The six-day special sitting of the Dewan Rakyat, slated to begin next Monday, will focus on the tabling of the Mid-Term Review of the 12th Malaysia Plan by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The mid-term review was carried out to evaluate the achievements of the five-year plan in its first two years, 2021-2022, and the direction for the next three years, 2023-2025, towards achieving a sustainable, prosperous, and high-income nation, taking into account current domestic challenges and global trends.
According to the Dewan Rakyat calendar, the tabling of the review is scheduled for 10am on Monday, with no afternoon sitting as the debate will start on Tuesday and last till Thursday, while replies by ministers are slated for Monday and Tuesday the following week, or September 18 and 19.
On June 19, a special meeting of the prime minister with federal ministers and ministry secretaries-general on the mid-term review agreed that all parties need to move as a team to expedite the implementation of planned reforms and economic initiatives.
Anwar, in a Facebook post, said that the special sitting is intended to discuss the new direction in the mid-term review to ensure that the country’s economy remains robust and on the right track towards achieving the Malaysia Madani agenda.
Quoting Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, the 12th Malaysia Plan needs to be evaluated in its entirety because the assumptions or plans made prior to the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022 have rendered a number of things obsolete.
According to Rafizi, while it can be described as something unique, the mid-term review can also be called a new plan for the country.
The review focused on two main aspects, with the first being re-evaluation and re-assessment – which include achievements, gap analysis, improvement and new direction proposals; and the efficiency of programmes and development project implementation.
The 12th Malaysia Plan was tabled by the then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on September 27, 2021, with an estimated development allocation of RM400 billion. – September 9, 2023