KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Radzi Jidin (Putrajaya-PN) today took Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Tambun-PH) to task for holding the finance minister’s portfolio after taking helm of the government in November last year.
Radzi, a former senior education minister, suggested that a new legislation be enacted to ensure this situation is not repeated.
Speaking during the debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat today, he cited the example of Datuk Seri Najib Razak who took the role of finance minister while serving as prime minister, leading to alleged abuse of power.
“The last three prime ministers did not do that (become finance minister). They managed to administer with good governance,” he said.
“Some Pakatan Harapan (PH) members had called for previous prime ministers not to be the finance minister. Among them are the MPs of Pandan (Rafizi Ramli), Segambut (Hannah Yeoh), and Kota Raja (Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu),” he claimed.
He noted that PH’s “Janji 12” manifesto in the last general election promised that the prime minister in power would not be appointed minister for any other ministries.
However, the rest of PH remained silent when their chairman did not uphold this, he claimed.
Radzi also referred to the appointment of Nurul Izzah, Anwar’s daughter, as his financial and economic adviser, which has since been rescinded.
He quipped that the appointment was a signal to other ministers to appoint their wives and children, although they do not get paid.
This riled some PH MPs who attempted to question his comments, but he ignored them all. –The Vibes, February 16, 2023
