Nurul Izzah’s appointment to ensure contracts are managed 'orderly' - PM

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has put his foot down on his daughter Nurul Izzah’s appointment as his adviser for economics in both the Prime Minister’s Department as well as the Finance Ministry, saying it is to ensure that contracts and tenders are managed in an “orderly” manner.

Pointing out that his eldest daughter is taking on the unpaid role, Anwar gave his assurance that the appointment is not to misuse power or to enrich his family like those who grant projects worth millions of ringgit to their children and son or daughter-in-law.

“She (Nurul) is here to help. If she came to help with no positions, that will be questioned and it’s not transparent, nor is it proper,” he told reporters today after attending the National Sports Awards at the National Sports Council in Kuala Lumpur.

“I want to give assurance, God willing, that our administration, even if some are not satisfied with this decision, (we are here to) fight corruption, not to misuse power or enrich any officials or leaders.”

Nurul Izzah Anwar

While acknowledging criticisms from civil society, he took a jab at those - former prime ministers - who allegedly granted their family members “hundreds of millions of ringgit” worth of contracts.

“It is inappropriate for those who give hundreds of millions worth of contracts to their children and relatives, some of them worth billions of ringgit, when they were the prime minister and now they are trying to talk about transparency,” he said.

Anwar also stressed that there is no nepotism involved in Nurul Izzah’s appointment, as claimed by several quarters.

“Nepotism is where (a family member) is given a position to abuse power, enrich themselves, obtain contracts and get paid a huge sum.

“That is not the case,” the Pakatan Harapan chairperson said.

Nurul Izzah’s appointment as senior economics and finance adviser on a pro bono basis had drawn brickbats, with those in the opposition calling out the move as nepotism and urging Anwar to retract the appointment.

Earlier today, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Muhammad Mohan questioned Anwar’s decision, saying it may signal that cronyism and nepotism are back.

Muhammad said Anwar himself has spoken extensively against nepotism and cronyism in the past, resulting in people questioning the latter’s recent decision. - Mkini