LETTER | The announcement made by our Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the Council of Eminent Persons report may not be made public is most surprising, unexpected and even disturbing.

He made the statement at the Cities 4.0 and Business 4.0 International Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur just today.

We had all been waiting with bated breath for the revelations of this CEP report for over 100 days now - but most of us will now be badly disappointed by possibly being denied the sight of this important report.

Most Malaysians will be upset that the new Pakatan Harapan government which had promised this report may not now want to publish it for public interest.

We would ask why should the report be considered so secret that the council’s recommendations cannot be revealed? What is the basis and rational for this unusual secrecy ?

Why has the report been deemed to be so secret when it was prepared by very learned, trusted, expert and eminent Malaysians ?

The rakyat have the natural right to be fully informed of the thoughts, ideas and issues raised and presented to our own government.

After all, the Harapan government was voted inter alia on the promises of more transparency, better consultation and higher integrity – so why this change of heart and mind on the part of the newly elected government?

Have we waited 61 years for genuine change and now get frustrated and even disillusioned?

On behalf of the majority of Malaysians, I would therefore appeal to the wise, very experienced and inspiring new prime minister to please make the CEP report public.

Please have faith to leave it to the people and the voters to judge the report’s merits, feasibility and acceptability, in our best long-term national interests please.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.