THE latest clarification by Wisma Putra that the country’s two senior diplomats in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were recalled home for failing to coordinate administrative and logistical matters during Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s visit to the UAE late last month has sparked more questions rather than clear the air.
This is considering that Datuk Mohd Tarid Sufian who is the Malaysian ambassador to the Emirates is a career diplomat who joined the Malaysian Administrative Diplomatic Service in March 1994.
Backed with 28 years of experience as a diplomat, one would expect Mohd Tarid who assumed his ambassadorship on Sept 1, 2019 to be well-versed with all the necessary protocol to handle the visit of a head of state whether from Malaysia or any guest country.
After all, he had served overseas as Second Secretary at the Malaysian Embassy in the Philippines, First Secretary at the Malaysian Embassy in Sudan and as the Malaysian Ambassador in Algeria.
Meanwhile, Mohd Hasril Abdul Hamid, the Dubai-based Consul-General of Malaysia in attendance when Ismail Sabri’s entourage landed at the Al Maktoum International Airport on March 29 (the PM was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah), was formerly a counsellor in-charge of Human Rights Issues at the Permanent Mission Of Malaysia to the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva.
Prior to his Dubai posting, he was the charge d’affaires/counsellor at the Malaysian Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Given a slew of past incidents, people familiar with Wisma Putra’s dealings contended that they would not be surprised if both Mohd Tarid and Mohd Hasril were made scapegoats to cover up “for the ineptness of their superiors”.
In a statement yesterday (April 11), Wisma Putra has rebutted an exposé by Free Malaysia Today that two senior diplomats in the UAE were ordered home and put in cold storage for what is deemed as a “lack of official guest status” for Ismail Sabri who made a short trip to Dubai on March 29.
In fact, Wisma Putra said the failure of Mohd Tarid and Mohd Hasril to perform their duty had forced the PM to wait long at the arrival hall for passport and Immigration clearance by the Dubai Immigration.
Apart from that, there was no security coverage and motorcade that should have been provided for the PM as per usual standard operating procedures.
“The two officials had also failed to inform the Foreign Ministry about the World Government Summit (WGS) which was held during the Dubai Expo. Wisma Putra leadership only knew about the summit on March 30 through a different source,” the statement said.
“Should we have been informed of the summit, certainly efforts would have been made so that the PM could have delivered a speech at the programme.”
However, Bernama reported that Ismail Sabri attended the closing ceremony of the WGS on the same day upon receiving an invitation to the event after a meeting held with UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy.
Wisma Putra further pointed out that the confusion would not have occurred if a proper coordination was made earlier. This is because the UAE Government had prepared all facilities for the PM as head of government right till the end of his visit.
“The move to recall the two officials is nothing out of the ordinary and was made through discussions with the relevant parties, including the Public Service Department,” the statement noted. “It was taken to protect interests in bilateral relations between Malaysia and the said countries and to ensure the competency of the public service.” – April 12, 2022
