“I am not interested in joining any political party. As you know, I am not a member of any right now,” he said when asked if he would eventually join politics and become an elected representative.
There is a lot of work to be done to shore up the economy and that is the key focus now, he said.
“I want to focus on how I think I can help in Malaysia’s fight against Covid-19 and improve our economic standing,” he told Bernama in an interview.
“So, I am not interested for now in joining any political party,” he said, trusting in his ability to build up the country’s economy in the aftermath of the pandemic, without the need to be in politics.
Malaysia’s economy showed signs of recovery with a contraction of -2.7% for the third quarter of 2020 compared with -17.1% in the second quarter as it bore the brunt of the effects of the seven weeks’ of movement control order (MCO) from March 18.
Tengku Zafrul was sworn in as a senator on March 10 before his appointment as the finance minister.
Coming from the corporate world, Tengku Zafrul recently received brickbats when he announced several new initiatives during his 2021 budget winding-up speech.
Tengku Zafrul explained through a Facebook posting that the initiatives were not his suggestions but those that came from the MPs themselves during the course of the debates in Parliament.
“All the improvements that were announced were the outcome of proposals from the MPs themselves — be it from the government or the opposition.
“For example, the proposal to extend the one-off special grant to frontliners was raised by, among others, MPs from Pontian (Umno), Ipoh Barat (DAP), Hulu Rajang (PRS) and Lembah Pantai (PKR) – all from different political parties.
“The decision to extend the aid was made after taking into account the arguments in Parliament such as the third wave of Covid-19, which is spreading rapidly and the implementation of the conditional MCO (CMCO) in several states.”
However, he said the government was unable to accept or implement all the proposals raised.
He said the government’s role is always to balance the various interests in terms of cost to ensure that the recipients really need them, and the implications on the market or treasury. “I admit, it is not an easy balancing act,” he said.
Nevertheless, when the collision between these interests arises, the government will always prioritise the welfare and well-being of the people, he added.