[UPDATED] Nurul Izzah’s appointment not nepotism as that involves self-enrichment: Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim defended his decision to appoint his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar as his senior economic and finance adviser.

He said that the move has nothing to do with nepotism as Nurul Izzah, who is a former MP, was appointed to ensure that all matters pertaining to contracts and tenders are managed well.

“This is a different situation, where she comes in to help me. She is making sure that matters such as contracts and tenders are managed properly, not to take on any projects.

“Nepotism is when you abuse power to make yourself richer, get contracts for projects so they could (be) marked (up) to get a higher income,” he said when met at the National Sports Award 2021 at the National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil here today.

Nurul Izzah, who is presently the PKR vice-president, had previously served as MP for Lembah Pantai (2008-2018) and Permatang Pauh (2018-2022).

Anwar also stressed that her post is not tied to a salary and that her role is to ensure there are no irregularities in the awarding of government contracts.

While he welcomed criticism from various quarters regarding his actions, he swiped back at the behaviour of certain parties that have abused power to award high-value contracts to their children and in-laws.

“I have no problems with anyone who criticises me with good intentions, but there are those who criticised me who also awarded hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of contracts to their children or those who got paid salaries but (were) doing nothing. 

“There are also those who award contracts worth up to billions of ringgit to their in-laws while being the prime minister or a minister. And now they want to talk about transparency?” Anwar added.

Nurul Izzah’s appointment was reported on Sunday but had been in effect since January 3.

On January 29, Anwar had said that the appointment was made based on her qualifications.

He said Nurul Izzah had a first degree in engineering and a second one in public and social policy from Johns Hopkins University, United States. He said she was appointed to assist him in the Prime Minister’s Department and the Finance Ministry.

However, he said Nurul Izzah would not receive any allowances for her role. 

In a Facebook post last night, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had advised Nurul Izzah to resign.

“It has never happened in the history of Malaysia that a prime minister appoints his child as an adviser,” said the former prime minister. 

“This appointment makes the ‘Reformasi’ slogan Anwar has spouted since 20 years ago sound like nonsense,” he claimed. – The Vibes, January 31, 2023