Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary, Azman Abidin, has denied speculation that the former’s wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has been appointed to an official position in the Prime Minister’s Department (PMD).
Azman said Wan Azizah was not appointed to any position in the PMD and a poster being circulated online alleging her appointment was untrue.
“This is not true. (It was) propaganda,” he said when contacted by Malaysiakini today.
The poster being circulated congratulated Wan Azizah on her alleged appointment as the chief of federal territories MPs, which is under the Federal Territories Department under the PMD.
There was no signature on the poster, only Wan Azizah’s portrait and the national coat of arms.
This is following the appointment of Nurul Izzah Anwar, the prime minister’s eldest daughter, as his economics and finance adviser.
Nurul Izzah’s appointment came under fire from many, including the opposition, who questioned if it was nepotism.
‘Wan Azizah chairs unofficial MPs’ group’
Azman further clarified that Wan Azizah merely chaired an internal meeting among Kuala Lumpur MPs recently to discuss issues affecting the city and this was not under any government agency or department.
“The KL MPs suggested forming an unofficial secretariat among themselves in order to discuss KL issues. So they had a meeting and they requested Wan Azizah to chair the meeting, that’s all.
“This meeting does not belong to any government agency or department. It was just an unofficial group among the KL MPs.
“Since Wan Azizah is the Bandar Tun Razak MP, it is not wrong for her to chair the meeting. But what was stated in the poster was untrue and incorrect, because that is not an official position,” he explained.
He also clarified that the meeting has nothing to do with the Federal Territories Interactive Council that was set up by the government in December last year.
He said that the interactive council is chaired by Anwar himself and only serves as a platform for MPs to discuss critical issues and suggest development policies for the people’s wellbeing.
He stressed that the unofficial secretariat was not involved in any policy or decision-making but merely collected and delivered the opinions and discussions of the MPs to Anwar.
The Federal Territories Department’s current top officer is its director-general Rosida Jaafar.
The department was formerly the Federal Territories Ministry, which has been restructured to be included under the PMD. - Mkini
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