PETALING JAYA: PAS MP Syahir Che Sulaiman has backed a suggestion for Titiwangsa MP Johari Ghani to be appointed second finance minister to assist Anwar Ibrahim.
Syahir said it was a known fact that the duties of the finance minister were extremely complex, as it involved making many important decisions and dealing with numerous documents on a daily basis.
“Therefore, to alleviate Anwar’s burden, I suggest that a second finance minister be appointed from among capable technocrats, or (even) the Titiwangsa MP, who is more than qualified, as proposed by Khairy Jamaluddin the other day,” he said in a Facebook post.
The Bachok MP’s statement comes in response to Anwar hitting back at him for calling for the appointment of a full-time finance minister to deal with the ringgit’s decline. “I won’t talk about the root of the problem, but will focus on the solution,” said Syahir.
Yesterday, Syahir said it appeared that Anwar was struggling to focus on his role as finance minister, and this was why the government needed to appoint a “full-time” minister for the role.
Earlier today, Anwar, who is also the finance minister, said Syahir should read “financial and economic reports” to understand issues related to global events.
“Don’t read PAS’ reports (on the weakening ringgit),” he said when talking to reporters after an event.
Previously, deputy finance minister Ahmad Maslan had said the government and Bank Negara Malaysia would discuss strategies to deal with the continuous decline in the value of the ringgit.
At 6pm yesterday, the local currency was weaker at 4.6105/4.6155 against the US dollar from Tuesday’s close of 4.6005/4.6045.
On Monday, Khairy, on his podcast “Keluar Sekejap”, said he “strongly advocated” for Johari to be made second finance minister, something that others too had previously suggested.
Khairy said Johari’s recent queries in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the track record of companies which signed memoranda of understanding with Chinese corporations was evidence that he had the expertise to take on the role of second finance minister. FMT
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