PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said that there is no need for Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar to take leave although two of the latter's officers have been hauled up by the MACC in a corruption scandal. The Malay Mail report quoted Anwar as saying: "It is only a probe and there are no charges pressed yet..."
"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."
PMX has made a distinction between "under probe" and "charged in court". One can infer that as far as Anwar is concerned, a Minister who is under investigation can carry on with their duties whereas a Cabinet member already charged needs to face the music, possibly take leave or resign.
If that is the case, why did Anwar appoint Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as Deputy Prime Minister last December? The Umno president faces a litany of corruption charges. Why was Zahid not just roped into the Cabinet, but made the second most powerful man in the country?
Anwar's statement on Sivakumar oozes with double standards when taken into account 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 it mean that he does not need to resign? Or will Sivakumar be given a more senior portfolio in Cabinet, just like Zahid?
During the GE15 campaign, wasn't Pakatan Harapan riding on allegations of corruption and abuse of power by BN, 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's 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.
What happened to the dictum that "one must not only be clean, but be seen to be clean" which PH had held so strongly to in the past? By the looks of it, Anwar will stop at nothing to grip on to power, including compromising on principles.
Alas, reformasi has now become reformati under the Unity Government.
Abdul Rahim Md Noor is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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