Azalina Was Not Involved In Officer S Appointment To Um Board Says Her Office

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The office of Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said today denied allegations that she had pulled some strings to get her officer Danesh Raj Nagarajan appointed into University Malaya’s board of directors.
In a statement, it said Azalina did not have any knowledge about the appointment until she saw a poster where the university congratulated Danesh.
“Following Danesh’s appointment as a member of UM board of directors, several allegations were made to portray as if Azalina had used her influence as Danesh’s employer to get him to the post.
“This office wishes to inform that not only Azalina was not involved, the appointment was not even in her knowledge at all. She only learned about it on Oct 5 when UM's congratulations poster was shared and gone viral via Whatsapp."
The office also denied that Danesh was Azalina’s special officer as claimed by certain quarters, but was an officer who handles her official social media accounts.
Danesh’s appointment that was perceived to be politically linked has sparked a debate about students’ connections with politicians on Twitter.
One of those who criticised the appointment was PKR Youth election director Fahmi Zainol, a former student activist, who raised the latter’s ties to Azalina.
The statement from Azalina’s office stated that they, however, are confident that Danesh’s appointment was done in a fair manner.
“This office was not informed by anyone about the appointment, but the higher education minister had mentioned in the Dewan Rakyat that Danesh was appointed on his capacity as a UM alumni, which surely would have taken into consideration his academic achievement and discipline, as well as his active involvement in programmes and activities during his student years and as an alumni
“The minister also stated that Danesh’s appointment was a decision made by the Higher Education Ministry, who wants to see youths contribute in organisational leadership at national level including at public universities.
“This office welcomes any appointment which is made without any outside influence and based on merits.” - Mkini

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