I am worthy to be HR Minister, says Riot

The opposition's accusation that he allegedly had fake university degrees is uncalled for, he said.

SERIAN: Human Resource Minister Richard Riot said today that he is worthy of being appointed as a federal minister.

Riot’s comeback followed calls by the opposition for him to resign for allegedly having fake university degrees.

Riot, who is also Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) deputy president, said his appointment as a federal minister was the prerogative of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

He said the opposition’s accusation was uncalled for especially as they had questioned Najib’s integrity and wisdom in appointing him as a minister in the new federal new cabinet.

“As a prime minister, he (Najib) has used his wisdom to find out whether I am fit to be a minister, and that includes my academic qualification, by tasking me to be in charge of the human resources porfolio, which is a very a challenging ministry with 13 agencies,” he told reporters after launching the Pesta Birumuh 2013 and the state-level 1Malaysia Support For Housewives and Azam Kerja programme here.

In rebuking the allegation, Riot, who is also Serian Member of Parliament (MP), said he would not hesitate to take legal action,  if deemed necessary, against the three DAP MPs – Ong Kiang Ming (Serdang), Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera) and Julian Tan (Stampin) for making the allegation, that had  tarnished his image, outside parliament.

The trio had reportedly urged Najib to ask Riot and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Ewon Ebin to resign for having fake degrees if the prime minister was serious about his cabinet’s integrity.

But Riot had said he was in the Human Resources ministry because his first degree in Human Resource was from University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom while his Masters was also in the same field.

- Bernama