PARLIAMENT | Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa has defended the appointment of Wan Izzana Fatimah Zabedah Mohamad Salleh, the daughter of former Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, as a Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) independent non-executive director.
He called for a fair attitude towards Wan Izzana (above), who is highly qualified, and said she should not be marred by the issues faced by her parents.
“Wan Izzana is a young woman who has high qualifications. (She is) a graduate from Imperial College and Harvard as well. She has her own track record and experience.
“But now she is being linked to the problems faced by her family. I think we should be fair.
“If we as parents are facing problems, we do not want our young children to be harassed, when she has her own merits. Her appointment was made based on her merits,” Annuar said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was winding up the committee stage of his ministry’s allocation under Budget 2022.
Kasthuri Patto (Pakatan Harapan-Batu Kawan) pointed out that Wan Izzana is already a director at TalentCorp and an investment panel member at the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
“With these two pretty heavy positions, will she be able to perform her duties at MDEC, when there are more graduates out there who may be as qualified or even more qualified than her?” she said.
In response, Annuar quipped that he had hoped Kasthuri would be more supportive of women.
“Oh, this is not a women’s issue, this is an issue of qualifications and someone who already holds two other positions.
“She is preventing other women from getting a position at MDEC,” Kasthuri added.
Annuar stressed again that Wan Izzana is highly qualified for the position at MDEC, which she was appointed to by the Finance Ministry.
At the same time, he said, Wan Izzana was only appointed as a non-executive director, which means she is not required to be involved in MDEC’s day-to-day operations.
“She is only a non-executive director who attends meetings. She does not have any power to handle day-to-day operations,” he added.
Netizens previously panned Wan Izzana’s appointment to MDEC as she is a defendant in a lawsuit the government launched against her family to reclaim the RM253.6 million owed by the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFC).
The case is still in trial and is set to resume in court in January.
Besides Wan Izzana, others party to the suit include her parents Shahrizat and Mohamad Salleh Ismail, as well as siblings Wan Shahinur Izran and Wan Shahinur Izmir.
Wan Izzana was sued in her capacity as the former director of NFC. - Mkini
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