KUALA LUMPUR – Thousands of Malaysians have rushed to sign a petition protesting the appointment of Pasir Salak MP Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as Malaysia’s ambassador to Indonesia.
The petition on change.org, which was started by “Bangsa Malaysia”, has garnered over 16,300 signatures as of the time of writing, just a day after it was initiated.
Describing the polarising Umno politician as an “embarrassador”, the petition said Malaysians have not yet forgotten Tajuddin’s disastrous handling of the light rail transit (LRT) collision last year that saw dozens of passengers sustaining injuries.
“His press conference as the Prasarana chairman then was enough to prove he is a ‘bad, stupid and arrogant’ person not qualified to represent Malaysia in any capacity.
“The rakyat hasn’t forgotten his statement that the LRT collision was normal, and when he laughed when describing the crash as ‘two cars that kissed each other’.
“Is this the kind of person we want to represent the country as an ambassador? Malaysia has been embarrassed enough. We as the rakyat must rise in protecting the good name of our country,” the description in the petition read.
Tajuddin had on Tuesday confirmed his appointment as the new ambassador to Indonesia, ending months of speculation over the highly important position.
He replaces senior diplomat Zainal Abidin Bakar, who had served in the post since 2018.
Various parties have since condemned the government for nominating Tajuddin for the position over other more qualified individuals, with many citing his poor performance heading Prasarana as the main justification that he should not have been appointed.
The senior politician made headlines after he issued several insensitive remarks and made light of the LRT collision on May 24 last year, before he was sacked as chairman of the group two days later.
During the crisis, a separate petition saw a staggering 139,600 signatures pushing for the controversial figure to be removed from Prasarana.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, however, yesterday defended Tajuddin’s appointment, saying the latter is a seasoned and experienced politician, whose appointment was agreed upon by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. – The Vibes, May 19, 2022
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