Mp Nothing Wrong With Pm Raya Tour If No Public Money Is Involved

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Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Karim said that it is not wrong for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to hold festive open houses in the six states where elections are due, as long as he uses his personal funds or funding from PKR or Pakatan Haparan.
However, he suggested that before it's too late, it would be a good move for Anwar to announce that government money will not be used to finance the open house roadshow.
"The prime minister must announce that PKR, Harapan and the PM himself are funding this.
"At the same time, the 84 Harapan MPs and hundreds of state assemblypersons across the country need to be mobilised to come forward to help the prime minister cover the cost of holding the open houses," Hassan (above) said in a statement today.
He said that Anwar must avoid any implication of using funds from the federal government, state governments, or local governments.
"That is clearly an abuse of power, including if civil servants and the government machinery are used to operate the open houses.
"The federal government needs to save money. As the prime minister said in Parliament, the national debt has now reached RM1.5 trillion, which is 82 percent of the GDP. In addition, the government often tells that it is bearing the burden of 1MDB's debt of RM18.2 billion," Hassan added.
Anwar is hosting the prime minister's Aidilfitri open houses in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah, Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan - the six states where polls will be held a few months from now.
Hassan said that there is indeed a provision by the prime minister to hold official events such as festive open houses.
"The government provides an allocation of money for such events. But in one place only, for example at the prime minister's official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.
"Holding an open house like a roadshow from one state to another up to six states is a new phenomenon. There are fears that it may violate the code of ethics and the law on the use of public money.
"It may be that the amount of government money used for holding the official open house ceremony at the national and state levels does not cost millions of ringgit, but it is necessary to remember that every penny of government money is public money, which means that the people's money needs to be spent prudently and do not violate moral ethics and laws," he said.
Several good examples
Hassan cited the case of the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi who, in June 1975, was found guilty on the charge of misusing government machinery for her election campaign in 1971.
When the Indian Supreme Court upheld the verdict, Indira was poised to be excluded from the political process and a state of emergency was declared instead.
"We certainly don't want to see the prime minister and his government fall because of a festive open house.
"For example, how much money was used by the Indian government for Indira's election campaign. It is not the amount of money used that is big or small. The main issue is that there has been abuse of power," said Hassan.
He said that in just five months, Anwar had given several good examples of leadership by example.
"For example, he does not take his salary and allowance as prime minister and also finance minister. This is the first time in Malaysia's history that the prime minister is doing work and taking on responsibilities on a pro bono basis, that is, without payment. He also made a decision that cabinet ministers also take a 20 percent salary and allowance cut.
"These are all commendable steps. It is not rhetoric or 'lip service'. The sacrifices made by the prime minister and cabinet ministers are real," he added.
Hassan said that no one believes that the open houses in the six selected special states have nothing to do with the upcoming state elections.
"We should hold these open houses everywhere. Raya is one month, so it's not an issue. But please don't use public money or government money. Period," said Hassan. - Mkini

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