Fahmi stuck between 2 extremes, says KJ

 

Khairy Jamaluddin (left) said Fahmi Fadzil’s position as the government’s de facto spokesman is now being disputed.

PETALING JAYA: Former health minister Khairy Jamaluddin says he sympathises with Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) Fahmi Fadzil over criticisms about his performance as communications and digital minister.

Khairy said Fahmi is in a situation where he has to balance the expectations of PH supporters on press freedom against his official duty in safeguarding Putrajaya’s interests.

He added that while some PH supporters wanted greater press freedom and freedom of speech, there were also many among them who were not as liberal.

According to Khairy, some quarters have criticised the PH communications director for being “weak, incompetent and ineffective”.

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“So I sympathise with him because he is stuck between the two extremes,” the former Rembau MP said in the latest episode of the “Keluar Sekejap” podcast.

“His performance as communications and digital minister and the government’s de facto spokesman is now being disputed, in a rather bad situation,” he said while discussing a growing trend of “illiberality” among PH supporters on freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, the podcast’s co-host, former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan said PH and its supporters had historically championed press freedom.

“On Twitter, we can see that they (certain PH supporters) feel Fahmi’s ministry should be more aggressive (in combating opposition narratives).

“It’s clear that freedom of speech, is no longer the mantra of PH supporters, for now. Their mantra now is how they’re going to control Perikatan Nasional to ensure they (PN) do not receive widespread coverage and do not capture the imagination of voters,” Shahril said.

Last November, Fahmi reportedly said PH would go “all-out” to combat the “overwhelming” slander against Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his new administration.

He said since Anwar took his oath on Nov 24, PH had faced “one slanderous claim after another” – from the government supposedly being pro-Israel to supporting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. - FMT