KUALA LUMPUR – PAS president and Marang MP Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang will continue to serve as Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East, despite a change in government.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the decision was made in Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s first cabinet meeting yesterday.
Progressive Democratic Party’s Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing (Bintulu MP) and Sarawak United People’s Party’s Datuk Seri Richard Riot (Serian MP) have also been retained as special envoys to China and East Asia, respectively.
“The first cabinet meeting on September 1 has agreed to continue with the appointments of Hadi, Tiong and Richard,” it said in a brief statement to the press.
Hadi was appointed to his position on April 2, last year, just a month after the infamous Sheraton Move, which saw Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin named prime minister.
This was followed by Tiong on April 20 and Riot on May 16. All three positions carry the status of a federal minister.
Following Muhyiddin and his cabinet’s resignations on August 16, questions have been raised on the status of the trio of special envoys.
A message from Hadi’s office to the press earlier today claimed that his position as special envoy has been automatically stripped together with the dissolution of the cabinet.
“At the moment, there is no appointment made by Ismail (Sabri),” the message read.
The retention of Hadi is particularly contentious, especially with his recent remarks defending and recognising the Taliban regime that had just taken over control of war-torn Afghanistan.
In a statement on August 25, the PAS president had said that the Taliban today is a more mature and sympathetic outfit compared with the one that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, where it enforced a strict interpretation of shariah law.
Hadi had pointed out that, among others, the new regime had declared an amnesty en masse to all former government staff who served the United States.
“They are also taking the approach to celebrate the diversity of people in Afghanistan,” he had said.
His statement follows a separate congratulatory message by his son, Batu Buruk assemblyman Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, to the fundamentalist Islamic force for its swift takeover of Afghanistan. – The Vibes, September 2, 2021
