DATUK Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob may hold the record as Malaysia’s prime minister (PM) with the shortest stint but the administration of the country’s ninth prime minister (PM) spent a hefty RM62,093,139 (RM62.1 mil) or RM4.4 mil/month to brand its Keluarga Malaysia slogan during the Bera MP’s 14-month tenure.
In contrast, his predecessor Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin only forked out RM181,752 (or RM15,146/month) to promote his Kerajaan Prihatin slogan over the 17-month period of his administration, according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs, and Special Functions) Datuk Armizan Ali.
Interestingly, the expenditure for PM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Malaysia Madani slogan has reached RM489,216 on Jan 30, 2023 (Editor’s note: Anwar unveiled the slogan on Jan 19).
All-in-all, the branding exercise of all three administrations has to date cost the country a total of RM62,764,107 (RM62.76 mil).
“The total expenses are based on the roadshow and tour programmes implemented starting from the administration of the eighth PM (Muhyiddin) up till now,” Armiza pointed out in a reply to Sri Gading MP Aminolhuda Hasan who asked for the total sum spent on the rebranding of the last two governments as well as the current one yesterday (Feb 14).
“The Kerajaan Prihatin slogan was the only branding rolled out during the eighth PM’s tenure which coincided with the period when the country was under the movement control order (MCO).”
To recap, Pagoh MP Muhyiddin was PM between March 2020 and August 2021 and Ismail who succeeded him helmed the country from August 2021 up to November 2022. Meanwhile, Anwar who is the Tambun MP was sworn in as PM on Nov 24 last year. – Feb 15, 2023
