Why ‘insensitive’ Tengku Zafrul for international trade and industry?

 

Ibrahim M Ahmad

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim must give clear and convincing reasons why he went for Tengku Zafrul Aziz as international trade and industry minister in his newly-formed unity Cabinet.

Originally brought in by Muhyiddin Yassin as part of his backdoor government, the technocrat-turned-politician was rejected by the rakyat at the ballot box two weeks ago, losing his bid for the Kuala Selangor parliamentary seat to Anwar’s own Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate, Dzulkifly Ahmad.

That being the case, it falls on the prime minister to immediately explain why someone rejected by the rakyat has been smuggled in via the backdoor to take up such a critical post in government.

At a time when the national economy is in urgent need of foreign investment and a boost to its international trade, what special skill set does ex-banker Tengku Zafrul bring to the administration?

If Anwar hopes to call himself a prime minister with the rakyat’s mandate, he must choose for his Cabinet ministers from among those who expressly have the peoples’ mandate.

Perhaps an exception can be made when someone unelected has skills unavailable among elected members of parliament which best suits a particular need.  Is one warranted in Tengku Zafrul’s case?

The reality is that Anwar himself has challenged Tengku Zafrul’s ability to hold high office.

In fact, Anwar can take a large chunk of the credit for Tengku Zafrul’s loss at the general elections on Nov 19 (GE15).

Just four days prior to GE15, Anwar said that Tengku Zafrul did not deserve to be elected as he was “insensitive” to issues plaguing the rakyat.

Speaking at a campaign stop that day, Anwar took Tengku Zafrul to task for playing down the ringgit’s recent steep decline as “normal”, and for not taking steps to protect its value.

That was not the only instance. As opposition leader, Anwar had repeatedly attacked Tengku Zafrul over the past year.

Last November, he called the former finance minister out for failing to respond on several matters affecting the public purse.

Anwar had asked for clarification about a multibillion-ringgit project mooted involving Subang Airport.

He had also asked why the government, which had put up a RM500 million guarantee in favour of AirAsia, was not giving financial help to the beleaguered Malaysia Airlines.

On top of that he had questioned various aspects of the proposed high speed rail project, which he said had been entered into on terms disadvantageous to the country.

At the beginning of this year, Anwar again flayed Tengku Zafrul in connection with the bankruptcy of cruise company, Genting Hong Kong. He asked how a “gambling company” was able to obtain unsecured loans totalling RM2.5 billion from three local banks, which had government entities PNB, Khazanah and EPF as their major shareholders.

The then finance minister’s response that such loans were “not uncommon” and posed “no material loss” to the banks, was ripped by Anwar as being “too casual” given the state of the country’s economy and the levels of poverty and unemployment among the rakyat which, he said, were not being addressed.

He even went as far as to suggest that the former finance minister’s answer smelt of a “cover-up”.

In the light of Anwar’s own recent misgivings, is it advisable for him to entrust such a critical aspect of the national economy into Tengku Zafrul’s hands?

Bringing Tengku Zafrul on board will not please PH supporters who again in 2022 voted for change, having been robbed of their mandate by the Sheraton Move in 2020.

The public will not be wrong to think that, by this appointment, Anwar is making unacceptable compromises on his own promises to implement widespread reforms in government simply so that he can hold on to the prime ministerial post he has coveted for 24 years.

To say that Tengku Zafrul’s appointment to Cabinet was not expected is an understatement.

A surprise choice by Muhyiddin Yassin, his performance as finance minister over two years under the eight prime minister and his successor, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has been underwhelming.

He also copped much criticism for several major decisions, including the cheap settlement which the government entered into with Goldman Sachs to resolve the 1MDB fiasco.

Anwar had himself spoken out against that settlement.

“On Goldman Sachs’ apparent involvement in this ‘scam’, I reiterate my position that the settlement reached between the Malaysian government and Goldman Sachs in 2020 was premature and failed to consider the losses that Malaysians will continue to bear,” Anwar said as recently as in April this year.

So, why then has Anwar picked Tengku Zafrul who he has discredited on multiple occasions in the recent past?

The prime minister must come out to justify the appointment immediately.

Chances are, however, that he will not be able to. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.