Rafizi: Govt should avoid appointing family members in the future

 

The culture of appointing family members to a certain position in the government should be avoided in the future, said Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

The PKR deputy president, quoted by Sinar Harian, said he was aware of various criticism surrounding the appointments of Nurul Izzah as senior economic and financial adviser to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and Mohammed Iqbal as a special functions officer to Dewan Rakyat speaker Johari Abdul.

"I am of the view that these kinds of things need to be avoided by any government in the future. However, in the case of Nurul Izzah and Iqbal, the appointments have already been made and they did not involve public funds.

“What we hope now is that they need to prove that they will bring added value. I’m sure they have their own respective role," he spoke to the media while attending a Chinese New Year event in Pandan Indah yesterday.

Recently appointed senior economic and financial adviser Nurul Izzah Anwar

All quarters involved in decision-making should take note of the public views, reminded Rafizi, who is also Pandan MP.

"In PKR, we hope that we 'move on' and the challenge lies with Nurul Izzah and Iqbal to prove their added value in a situation where they do not take any of the public funds.

"I certainly understand that sentiment," he said.

The government recently drew flak following nepotism claims over the appointment of Nurul Izzah and Iqbal.

Anwar defended his daughter's credentials as his pro bono adviser on the economy and finance, claiming that Nurul Izzah has a second degree in public policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Meanwhile, Johari said his son has been serving as his special officer since 2009 in addition to having a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Multimedia University in Malacca.

He said Iqbal has been his officer for the past 14 years but only continued to help him with an allowance paid by himself. - Mkini