WITH Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz being absent from the Dewan Rakyat today, rumour mills are abuzz that the former may be relinquishing from his post soon.
According to The Vibes, MPs were aghast when Zafrul and his two deputies were absent from the august house today despite being part in two key orders of business – the Minister’s Question Time (MQT) and the tabling of four Government bills for the first reading.
He was also supposed to answer questions on debts accrued by the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) financial scandal.
Instead, Religious Affairs minister Idris Ahmad filled in to answer questions on 1MDB and SRC International’s debt, which triggered an outcry from Opposition MPs.
It is to note that last week, Zafrul had reiterated his opposition to another round of withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
The former banker also mentioned that he rather quit his post than compromise on his stand on the matter.
“If this round of withdrawals were approved, contributors may have to live below the poverty threshold when they retire.
“I must remind the public that EPF is not a bank and it’s important for contributors to have a good retirement savings for their old age,” Zafrul told in an interview with Sinar Premium.
However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday that the Government would be allowing another round of withdrawal from the EPF, at a maximum of RM10,000.
Sorry for the trouble
On related matter, Zafrul quickly took to social media to dismiss the rumours and said that he was on an emergency leave.
“I have a personal emergency to attend to and I have mentioned this yesterday. It’s not that I want to skip my responsibility to answer questions as Finance Minister,” he mentioned.
On the Idris answering on his behalf, Zafrul said that it was nothing new as there were precedents where ministers answered questions on their fellow colleagues’ behalf.
“I thank Idris for reading out my replies. As for the additional questions, I will provide a separate written reply for it. My apologies for the confusion,” Zafrul remarked. – March 17, 2022
Main photo credit: The Vibes
