“Anwar did another boo-boo”
Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
كڽاتأن انور بايڠكن زاهيد بوليه دمينتا لتق جاوتن اتاو برچوتي سبب دعوأن جنايه
UNTUK BERITA TERKINI, SERTAI TELEGRAM TTF DI SINI
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was quoted as saying yesterday that there is no need for Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar to take leave.
The statement came in the wake of a corruption probe by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) against two of Sivakumar’s officers.
According to Anwar, since it is only a probe, it “is too early” to suggest that Sivakumar takes leave from official duties.
Wait…does this mean Sivakumar can be asked to leave if his officers are charged?
WATCH: FITNAH TERHADAP TUN M – TEMPOH DAH TAMAT, ANWAR TERPERANGKAP
According to Anwar, if he, as prime minister, is asked to give an explanation, it did not mean he would have to resign.
“So we need to make that distinction between an investigation that is currently ongoing and if there is a charge then that is a different question,” he added.
Does this not imply that Anwar feels a Cabinet minister who is charged in court can be asked to resign or take leave from official duties?
If that is the case, then why did Anwar appoint Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, a man facing 47 criminal charges, as his deputy?
And why did Anwar previously defend Zahid’s appointment by saying that a “person is innocent until proven guilty?”
If indeed a person is innocent until proven guilty – which, in all fairness, is the case – then why did Anwar find it necessary to make a distinction between a person being investigated and a person who is charged?
Does the principle that one is innocent until proven guilty not apply in both cases?
This is what Malaysia now wrote:
Anwar’s statement on Sivakumar oozes with double standards and hypocrisy, considering his appointment of Zahid as DPM.
If PMX takes a strong stance on corruption, why did he appoint Zahid in the first place?
And if Sivakumar is charged in court, does that mean he does not need to resign?
Or will Sivakumar be given a more senior portfolio in the Cabinet, just like Zahid?
During the GE15 campaign, was Pakatan Harapan not riding on allegations of corruption and abuse of power by Barisan Nasional, of which Zahid is the chairman?
Has Anwar forgotten the song, “Hoi hoi ya hoi”, which had become the rallying call for PH during campaigning but has now been discarded into the political junkyard due to expediency?
Zahid aside, why did Anwar say that there was no need for Sivakumar to resign when two of his officers had been hauled up by the MACC over the foreign workers’ permit scandal?
In the past, PH would vigorously ask any government officials, including ministers, who were caught even with a whiff of scandal to resign or take leave. But now that PH is in power, the coalition has made a 180-degree turn.
