Explain big group of guests on PM’s trip, says Amanah

 

Tanjung Piai Umno chief Jefridin Atan posted this photograph on Facebook, saying he had been present for the prime minister’s speech at the UN general assembly.

PETALING JAYA: Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub has called for an explanation regarding the unusually high number of officials and politicians who accompanied the prime minister to New York.

Salahuddin said In a tweet this evening that the prime minister’s entourage was said to number around 30 including Umno leaders.

He said the Prime Minister’s Office should clarify the costs involved and the justification for having them on the trip.

Salahuddin said: “They flew on a private jet. The PMO must officially answer regarding the cost and justification of this trip.”

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Ismail Sabri Yaakob arriving in New York on Friday. (PMO video)

The prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly. An official video posted by the prime minister’s office shows him arriving in New York on board a Malaysia Airlines jet.

Ismail’s guests were believed to have included eight Umno politicians, according to Malaysiakini, which said Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin and secretary-general Ahmad Maslan were to have been among them but “could not make the trip”.

The others were reported to be: Pahang Umno chief and menteri besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail; Malacca state executive councillor and state Umno leader Ab Rauf Yusoh; Umno information chief Shahril Sufian Hamdan, former Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Said; Tanjung Piai Umno chief Jefridin Atan; Rompin MP Hasan Arifin; Cameron Highlands MP Ramli Mohd Nor; and Kedah Umno deputy chief Othman Aziz

Malaysiakini said a government source had confirmed the attendance of the Umno leaders on the New York trip but said the prime minister’s “guests” paid for their own travel.

Melaka Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh’s photograph on Facebook showing him with a Malaysian delegation on their way to the United Nations for the prime minister’s speech at the general assembly.

Ab Rauf, Jefridin, and Sharil were among those who posted on Facebook about their trip to New York. Shahril said he had arrived a day earlier, on Thursday, and had met the US assistant secretary of state Ramin Toloui.

“We discussed several key topics including the recently approved CHIPS Act in the United States regarding its impact on the semiconductor industry in Malaysia,” he said.

Other issues included the problem of forced labour and human trafficking, and current economic trends in the world such as inflation and monetary policy, he wrote. - FMT