Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz told Parliament today that as the officers were already employed in the PMO, no extra cost was being incurred for Rosmah.
“There is no fixed or special contract staff for the prime minister’s wife but officers from PMO will, from time to time, help her carry out her duties as the wife of the prime minister.
“The element of extra cost does not arise because they are the prime minister’s employees,” he said.
Nazri said that the officers would be assigned to help with correspondence and handle invitations for local and international events for Rosmah.
Nazri was responding to a query from Anthony Loke (DAP-Rasah) during Question Time this morning over the purported existence of a special division under the PMO — known as FLOM or “First Lady of Malaysia” — for Rosmah.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak came under fire from the opposition recently when the existence of the FLOM division was discovered from the PMO’s website.
The website had shown that six staff members were employed in the division, which enjoyed the same stature as PMO’s Media Division, Policy and Research Division, and the ICT division.
The link in the website has, however, since been removed and during the last Parliament sitting, the government had clarified that the division never existed.
Nazri added today that the PMO website was presently being updated to clarify some “confusing” information.
Rosmah has been frequently criticised for her extensive travels abroad and accused of hogging the media limelight in her role as the prime minister’s wife.
In an oral question to the House yesterday, Loke had asked for details on Rosmah’s expenses during her trips to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bangladesh in January this year.
Nazri revealed that the three trips had cost a total of RM134,317.76 and had received the Cabinet’s approval.
Rosmah was accompanied by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil as well as wives of ministers, mentris besar, chief ministers and several other government officers.
According to Nazri, the trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from January 6 to 10 had been on the invitation of Saudi Arabia’s deputy Education minister, and Rosmah had been invited to deliver the keynote speech at the “First International Seminar”.
Her trip to Muscat, Oman, from January 16 to 18, was on invitation from the Social Development Minister of Oman.
A January 20 visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, was made on invitation from Cherie Blair, the patron of Asian University for Women, and Rosmah had also been asked to deliver a keynote address for a symposium entitled, “Thinking of Asia’s Future: Ideas and Direction towards Change”. - Malaysian Insider
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