Council of Eminent Persons locking horns with PH?

PETALING JAYA: The Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) is locking horns with Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders over the direction of government decisions, Singapore's Straits Times has reported.
The CEP, which is an advisory body, had brought about important personnel changes in the government, including the resignation of the Bank Negara governor, two top judges and the position of Dewan Rakyat speaker.
The DAP reportedly wanted a different candidate for the speaker post. CEP member Tun Daim Zainuddin was said to be facing resistance from PH leaders.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said the CEP would only last for 100 days but the report said there were concerns it could now remain beyond that time frame.
"Mahathir has to be careful about not overplaying Daim's hand as a troubleshooter, but then again, can Mahathir even stop someone like Daim?" a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Johan Saravanamuttu, was quoted as saying by the Straits Times.
The report said Daim had disagreed with the renegotiation of the LRT3 and MRT2 projects, favouring a re-tendering. However, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had announced a renegotiated LRT3 deal that will see its cost cut from RM31.45 billion to RM16.63 billion.
However, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong has said the CEP only acts as advisers to the government.
“The question of accountability does not arise with the CEP, and its members are not bound by specific laws. They only act as advisers to the government,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was replying to a query by Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) on the accountability of the CEP and whether it was acting beyond its role as an advisory body.