Azmin Recalls Close Front Door Open Back Door Jibe

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JOHOR POLLS | Bersatu supreme council member Azmin Ali, who hit the campaign trail in the Johor polls today, has emphasised to the public his efforts to preserve the economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic and recalled how some critics had mocked him.
Azmin said he remembered one stinging remark that insinuated he was "opening the backdoor" as he allowed some businesses to continue operating during the pandemic.
The international trade and industry minister did not mention names but the comment about "doors" last year gained significant public attention when then defence minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was in charge of the Covid-19 lockdown at the time, complained he had "closed the front door" but suggested there were forces within the government working against him.
This was amid the confused directive in the government at the time where Ismail Sabri had ordered certain industries to close to contain the pandemic, but the international trade and industry minister said they could still operate.
"Last year, there were those who attacked me. They said, 'Azmin, shut it down, why haven't things been closed down?'. Every day they asked me to shut down (businesses).
"There were even those who slighted (menyinggung) me by saying that they had closed the front door, but he (Azmin) opened the backdoor," he told some 80 people, mostly party activists, at a ceramah in Simpang Renggam.
Ismail Sabri, who is now the prime minister and Azmin's boss, had in June last year taken to social media stating: "I have closed the front door but..." followed by the emoji of an anxious sweating face.
Prime Minister Ismail Sabri YaakobIsmail Sabri is the Umno vice president and part of the BN coalition, while Azmin is in Perikatan Nasional. The two coalitions are contesting against each other in the Johor polls.
The vaccination rate at the time was about 7.2 percent of the adult population. It is now 98.8 percent.
Azmin said he was concerned about the people's health but had to also consider the economy.
"I want to ensure people's health. The economy's health is also important. If I close down all the factories and economic activities, we will lose jobs," he added.
'PN protected jobs'
Azmin said during the first lockdown in 2020, some 826,000 people lost their jobs.
"If one person loses their job, their spouse is also affected. That is, if they have only one wife. There are those with two (wives) and five to six children.
"That means when one person loses their job, it could impact the whole household, which is five to six people. More than five million people didn't see an income and could not afford to put food on the table," he added.
It was through Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin's efforts when he was the prime minister that helped set the country on a path to economic recovery, Azmin said.
"That was why I took the courageous step, with the advice and guidance of Muhyiddin, to balance public and economic health," he added.
He also cited the PN government's efforts to purchase large stocks of Covid-19 vaccine that allowed the country to be substantially vaccinated against the virus and allow the return to some semblance of normalcy.
International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali on the campaign trailAzmin was speaking at a youth engagement programme in the state seat of Layang-Layang in Simpang Renggam, where he also stumped for PN's candidate K Alagenthiran.
Alagenthiran is facing PKR's Maszlee Malik, BN's Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim and Pejuang's Ahmad Shafiq Othaman.
Azmin, after condemning BN's corruption, also set his sights on Maszlee, who is also the Simpang Renggam MP.
"Yesterday, a Layang-Layang candidate asked for the opportunity to become the Layang-Layang assemblyperson so that he can bring more development, but he forgot that he is also the Simpang Renggam MP. He is also a former minister.
"Did he not bring development when he was a minister? Why does he need to become an assemblyperson to bring development? They are all false promises," Azmin, who was formerly a vice president in PKR before defecting to Bersatu, said.
Azmin blames DAP for Felda woes
He also touted the PN government's move to forgive the debt of Felda settlers.
Azmin said he had tabled a White Paper to resolve Felda's woes in 2018 but claimed the then finance minister Lim Guan Eng under the Pakatan Harapan government had refused to follow through with the debt resolution.
"Among the proposals in the White Paper was to forgive the debt of settlers but unfortunately for them, who was the finance minister at the time? Lim from DAP. He is a good friend of Maszlee.
"At the time, the proposal to rescue Felda was rejected by DAP, particularly Lim," Azmin claimed.
He said the plan was only pushed through after Muhyiddin became the prime minister.
Azmin was the economic affairs minister from 2018 to 2020 under the Harapan government.
He was among the key figures who arranged an internal coup, leading to the collapse of the Harapan government.
Azmin was then appointed as the international trade and industry minister when the PN government took over with Muhyiddin as prime minister in 2020.
Muhyiddin had cobbled together a new coalition with the then opposition which included Umno after ditching Harapan.
However, Muhyiddin's tenure was also short-lived as Umno grew stronger and eventually strong-armed Muhyiddin out of office. Ismail Sabri succeeded Muhyiddin.
Campaigning for the Johor polls kicked off on Feb 26. Johoreans will go to the polls on March 12.
Azmin is on a campaign blitz today with seven separate events in Johor.
Earlier, he was in Johor Bahru for a dialogue session. Later, he will be engaging with voters at two events in the state seat of Rengit before travelling to the state seat of Penggaram.
At night, he will attend a dinner function followed by a ceramah in the state seat of Sungai Balang. -Mkini

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