IT is not inappropriate for Prime Minister Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to host festive open houses in the six states where elections are coming up, as long as he does so with his own money or funds provided by PKR or Pakatan Haparan (PH), said an MP.
However, Hassan Karim said before it’s too late, Anwar should announce that government funds are not used to fund the open house roadshow.
“The Prime Minister must announce that PKR, Harapan and the PM himself are funding this.
“At the same time, the 84 Harapan MPs and hundreds of state assemblypersons across the country need to mobilised to come forward to help the Prime Minister cover the cost of holding the open houses,” the Pasir Gudang MP said.
He pointed out that Anwar must avoid giving the impression of using funds from the federal, state, or local governments.
“That is clearly an abuse of power, including if civil servants and the government machinery are used to operate the open houses.
“The federal government needs to save money. As the Prime Minister said in Parliament, the national debt has now reached RM1.5 tril, which is 82% of the GDP. In addition, the government often tells that it is bearing the burden of 1MDB’s debt of RM18.2 bil,” Hassan added.
Anwar is hosting the Prime Minister’s Aidilfitri open houses in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Penang, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan, the six states where elections will take place in months to come.
According to Hassan, the Prime Minister has authorised the organising of formal events such as festive open homes.
“The government provides an allocation of money for such events. But in one place only, for example at the prime minister’s official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.
“Holding an open house like a roadshow from one state to another up to six states is a new phenomenon. There are fears that it may violate the code of ethics and the law on the use of public money.
“It may be that the amount of government money used for holding the official open house ceremony at the national and state levels does not cost millions of ringgit, but it is necessary to remember that every penny of government money is public money, which means that the people’s money needs to be spent prudently and do not violate moral ethics and laws,” he said. – April 27, 2023
Main pic credit: Suara Keadilan
