By P Gunasegaram
A stream of recent events, topped by a suit where a travel company is asking him for some RM329,000 in travel expenses, indicate quite clearly that Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali’s position is becoming increasingly untenable.
His reply to the suit engenders little confidence in him, the reply being that if he ascertains that the figure is right, he will pay the bill, allegedly incurred last year and this year.
This is in addition to other well-known woes facing Azmin – also deputy president to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at PKR – including a tape released by an associate of his who claimed that Azmin had sexual relations with him in a hotel in Sandakan during a by-election there.
A worsening relationship between Azmin and Anwar – partly caused by suspicion that the former was positioned as an alternative to the latter in the agreed succession plan for Anwar to take over from Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – reached almost a breaking point when Anwar said, in response to a question, that Azmin should resign if the tape was proven to be genuine.
The police investigated the Sandakan episode but have maintained that they could not positively identify Azmin as the person in the tape, a conclusion which was met with derision by some quarters who claimed that the technology was available to make a positive identification.
Instead, the person who made the allegations, as well as an aide to Anwar, were detained by the police for investigations. The case still remains unsolved.
The relationship between Anwar and Azmin went from bad to worse and is practically non-existent while that between Azmin and Mahathir seems to have improved by leaps and bounds to such an extent that Azmin has openly called for Mahathir to remain prime minister until the next elections.
But back to those travel bills, which indicate business/first-class travel for Azmin and some of his family members. According to reports, Azmin listed his assets under disclosure requirements as a house costing over RM1.7 mil and salaries of RM69,000 a month.
The question that naturally arises, of course, is: How can he afford to spend RM329,000 on travel for a short period under that kind of salary and assets?
The suit for the recovery of the money was filed by YHA Travel & Tours (M) Sdn Bhd on Nov 2, through Messrs Fong Yap & Gan.
Suit against Azmin
YHA’s statement of claim, according to theedgemarkets.com, says Azmin had been a customer of the travel agency for 20 years. The company claimed the PKR deputy president would normally settle his bills within three to four months, but in this instance, the payments have been outstanding for far longer.
The trips were made between Sept 10, 2018, and Aug 5 this year. They include family trips to Marrakech, London, Jakarta, Gold Coast, Dubai, Geneva, Singapore, Bangkok, Barcelona and Santorini, says YHA.
The company also provides the itinerary of Azmin’s trips to Hanoi and Kota Kinabalu between Sept 14 and Sept 16, 2018; and to Sandakan on May 10 and May 11 this year, which was during the Sandakan by-election.
When questioned by reporters on Nov 6, Azmin had only this to say, according to The Star: “I will ask my officers to check on the claims by the travel agent, and if there are outstanding bills, I have to be responsible. I will have to pay. Let the checks (on the claims) be made.”
That raises a number of questions. YHA in its writ has said that no payment was made despite repeated demands. Azmin should have said whether there were such demands and why he did not settle them, instead of waiting for a suit to be filed. He said further that he did not know why the suit was filed – ask them, he replied.
He also did not address the issue of how he could afford to pay some RM329,000 for expensive travel, especially in the light of his declared income and assets.
It is now more than 10 days since the suit was filed – more than enough time for Azmin to comprehensively respond to all issues of prudence, responsibility and accountability that had been raised in the suit.
If he can’t give valid answers to these legitimate questions, he should no longer hold the important position of economic affairs minister, or indeed as a minister at all. Any minister in the New Malaysia should be held to high standards of behaviour and should not be so derelict and questionable in his personal finances so as to invite a demand for payment.
If this suit is improper and falsely filed, and if it contains false information, then it is incumbent upon Azmin to make a counter claim for damages so as to stop any further damage to his reputation.
Unresolved sex scandal
Confidence is further eroded by the sex scandal where there is no proof yet that he did not engage in those sex acts, with the inspector-general of police saying that while Cyber Security Malaysia had ascertained that the tape was genuine, it could not be 100% sure of the identities of those in the tape.
But experts contend that it is possible with facial recognition technology to establish this beyond a reasonable doubt, and it can be used together with corroborating evidence – for instance, the appearance of the room and so on – as well as evidence of a person’s presence at the place.
This apparently does not seem to have been done in Azmin’s case and will, therefore, be yet another issue undermining confidence in Azmin and strengthen the belief that he is being protected by the powers that be for political reasons. This is yet another reason why Azmin should remove himself from a position of public office.
While Azmin and Anwar now clearly have their differences, it is too much for Azmin as PKR deputy president, who should be supporting an agreed transfer of power to his party president, to instead support the view that Mahathir should continue being prime minister until the next elections.
That is not only a betrayal of Anwar, but is also a betrayal of PKR and the entire Pakatan Harapan coalition, all of whom agreed that Mahathir will only be an interim prime minister until Anwar is willing and able to take over from him. It is also a betrayal of the manifesto promise.
It means that Azmin should not only resign as a minister but also as deputy president of PKR and even as an elected representative because he no longer holds the beliefs he had communicated to his electorate.
But in the New Malaysia of the old mould, one doubts it will happen anytime soon as the recycled people from Umno who still believe in the old ways elbow their way into the top ranks of power.
