When they were on the other side, they extolled the virtues of good governance. In and outside Parliament, they vociferously demanded transparency and accountability.
At a time when Najib Abdul Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor - the self-styled “First Lady” - were travelling the world on government jets, their demands for details and reasons for the use of government aircraft reached a crescendo.
It was a time too when Najib, more the wife, could do what they wanted and such demands were dismissed summarily.
Nga Kor Ming, Anthony Loke, Rafizi Ramli et al never missed the opportunity to show lapses in the administration and the expenses that came with them. The expenses of the government and its leaders were then continuously questioned.
These days, now that they are in the cabinet, their silence on similar matters is deafening. Their zeal and enthusiasm for transparency and accountability seem to have waned.
Furore galore
In June 2016, Rafizi, now the economy minister, sent a video clip to the media which showed Rosmah boarding a private jet, carrying several bags into the cabin.
Accompanying the clip were two cryptic questions: How many bags and what are the contents?
In August 2014, Nga Kor Ming, now the local government development minister, questioned the amount of money spent by Najib during his overseas trips in the preceding five years.
Najib, he thundered, spent RM44.071 million for the trips in the span of five years.
“This means he has spent RM8.814 million a year and RM734,000 a month and demanded an explanation and details of the expenses.
When Najib was the prime minister, the private jets belonging to the government were at his beck and call. Rosmah had also used them for “official” purposes, it was then claimed.
Every time a government jet took off from our shores with Najib or his wife on board, the opposition created a furore.
Subsequently, when Rosmah used the official government jet to fly to Padang, Indonesia for an award ceremony, the current transport minister, Loke also demanded answers.
Putrajaya refused to disclose the costs incurred and the then minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim said all the costs involved in the flight “are estimated to be appropriate and in line with the service provided.”
“Every sen spent for the official use of the prime minister, his wife, and any member of the administration comes from public funds and can be questioned. And if Parliament cannot give an answer, how can they guarantee transparency in their expenditure?” Loke asked.
For good measure, he added: “There is no reason for any ministers not to answer questions raised by an MP in the Dewan Rakyat. And every sen spent for official purposes by the prime minister and his wife are public funds and should be answered.”
Cherry-picked transparency
In Parliament last week, similar and related questions were raised. But the answers were not specific.
While saying that the government has spent RM18.6 million on official overseas visits by cabinet members from January to April this year, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak and Special Affairs) Armizan Mohd Ali refused to provide details.
He was replying to a question from Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden (Perikatan Nasional - Alor Setar) who asked about the cost of using private jets for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim from December 2022, after he became prime minister, until April this year.
Armizan said in that period, the prime minister had used an Airbus government executive jet, maintained by the Prime Minister’s Department, nine times for official duties overseas.
“The use of the government executive aircraft is a privilege enjoyed by every prime minister as the head of government. All costs involved are appropriate with the service and management of the aircraft involved,” Armizan said.
This is the same answer provided that got the then opposition riled up. To paraphrase Loke’s poser when he was an opposition MP and direct it back at him: If Parliament cannot give an answer, how can they guarantee transparency in their expenditure?
But the government appears to be transparent when it is advantageous and suits them by drawing comparisons.
The government, Parliament was also told last week, spent RM7.4 million so far for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s “Malaysia Madani” campaign and Armizan said this was minuscule compared to what was spent by his predecessor, Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
“In comparison, the amount of expenditure that has been allocated for national agenda promotion efforts such as the ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ campaign was as much as RM62 million,” he said.
Armizan also told Parliament that Anwar’s Hari Raya open houses in three states had cost RM6.1 million and compared it with last year’s Hari Raya open house held in Seri Perdana, which cost RM11 million.
The questions are: Is transparency only applicable when you spend less than your predecessor and do our MPs stop demanding accountability when they join the government bench? - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who writes on bread-and-butter issues. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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