Another nepotism claim, this time involving Dewan Rakyat speaker

 

Days after it was revealed that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had appointed his daughter, Nurul Izzah, as a senior adviser on economy and finance, the internet has gone abuzz once again today of an alleged similar incident involving another PKR leader.

This time, it saw Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul being accused of appointing his son as a special duties officer in his office.

Among the first to bring up the issue was Bersatu member Badrul Hisham Shaharin, who posted on Twitter this morning questioning Johari (above) about the appointment.

Badrul Hisham, otherwise known as Chegubard, also alleged that the full name of Johari's son Mohammed Iqbal had been amended on the Parliament's online staff directory, where his surname was said to have been removed.

This was purportedly done to mask Iqbal's possible family link to the speaker.

"Initially, there was one Mohammed Iqbal bin Johari listed as a special duties officer in the @MYParlimen staff directory.

"But after it was revealed that Nurul Izzah had been appointed as Anwar's adviser, the directory had been edited, where 'bin Johari' was removed (from Iqbal's name).

"Everyone else had their surname stated, except this one. Why?" he tweeted.

Badrul Hisham in his posting had tagged Johari's tweet handle, seeking the speaker's explanation on the matter.

Badrul Hisham Shaharin

"Is there any explanation for this? Is he your own son?"

He also attached screenshots showing discrepancies between the parliament directory and a page from a Google search.

Google search result by Malaysiakini also shows one “Mohammed Iqbal bin Johari” listed, but when the link was clicked and the page was redirected to Parliament's staff directory, only one “Mohammed Iqbal” was found.

Malaysiakini is still in the midst of ascertaining whether the Iqbal listed as Johari's officer was indeed his son.

Attempts to get comments from Johari have not been successful. Malaysiakini has also reached out to PKR information chief Fahmi Fadzil for comments.

Several days ago, it was revealed that Nurul Izzah had been appointed as a senior adviser in the Prime Minister's Department.

Despite Anwar saying that Nurul Izzah would be doing the work pro bono, her appointment had received brickbats from many, including the opposition who called it out as nepotism. - Mkini