Kit Siang wants to see report cards on Hadi and other special envoys

 

Following the 100-day report cards delivered on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob's cabinet members, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang is calling for similar assessments to be made of the four special envoys.

At present, Ismail Sabri has four special envoys: Hadi Awang (special envoy to the Middle East), Tiong King Sing (special envoy to China), Richard Riot (East Asia), and SA Vigneswaran (South Asia).

"Can the four special envoys produce their 100-Day report cards? If the four super-ambassadors are unable to produce their 100-day report cards, what are they useful for?

"I had previously asked whether Malaysia’s special envoy to the Middle East had been banned from Saudi Arabia and had never visited Saudi Arabia since his appointment as far back as April 2020, but no answer had been forthcoming.

"How many times has Tiong King Sing visited China since his appointment, and what has he done to justify his appointment? The same question applies to Hadi, Richard Riot, and Vigneswaran.

"What is the use of an ambassador or special envoy of a region when he cannot visit the country or region he is supposed to be responsible for?" asked Lim in a statement today.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said the answer by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Abdul Latiff Ahmad in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday on the number of special advisers and special envoys of the prime minister was both a shocker and an eye-opener.

"The first question that comes to mind is why is the prime minister having so many special advisers and special envoys as he already has a jumbo-sized cabinet of 31 Ministers and 38 ministers and a full complement of high commissioners and ambassadors all over the world?

"Is Ismail Sabri prepared to ask for specific approval from Parliament authorising him to appoint special advisers and special envoys? Otherwise, this is not a parliamentary government but a special adviser government in Malaysia!"

"This secretive government must stop immediately!" he added.

Aside from the four special envoys, Ismail Sabri has also hired five special advisers.

His government has been spending the most on hiring special advisers since Najib Abdul Razak's era, with a total of five special advisers costing RM136,136 a month.

This includes Azalina Othman Said (special adviser on law and human rights).

They were hired between August and October and are each paid RM27,227.20 a month.

If they serve their full two-year tenure, they are expected to cost taxpayers a total of RM3.267 million. - Mkini