Pmx Should Sack Pol Sec For Issuing Support Letter For Contractors Not Just Give Him Tight Slap On The Wrist

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DETRACTORS want the head of Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Akin, the senior political secretary (pol-sec) to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, to roll for having issued a purported support letter for six contractors tendering for a hospital project on his official letter head.
As per the letter dated May 6, 2024 addressed to Mohammad Faisal Ismail who is the pol-sec of Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, the contractors are referenced as “selected pre-qualified for bidding” to undertake related construction works at the Sultanah Fatimah Specialist Hospital in Muar. Johor.
“A polsec can just write a support letter, list SIX contractors – FOUR without proper CIDB (Construction Industry Development Board) records, some even blacklisted – and send it to the Health Ministry for a HOSPITAL project?” fumed current affairs site My News in a Facebook post.

“This is about renovating a hospital, not a mamak eatery. It’s about human lives, not a crony project.”
The poster went on to jibe PMX for only rendering harsh reprimand on Shamsul who narrowly lost to Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (n0w Deputy PM) in the Bagan Datuk parliamentary seat contest during the 2022 national polls.

“Where is the code of conduct? Where is the transparency? Where is the promised open tender? Where is Malaysia Madani if ​​your own office itself did such backroom work?” berated My News.

“Harsh reprimand is not an (affirmative) action. That’s dinner table advice. For the sake of national integrity:
 Immediate suspension of duty pending investigation.
 MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) enters the fray to differentiate between facts and slander.
 Reveal the tender status openly.
 Ensure there is no political interference in any hospital project.”
Interestingly, even PKR members are calling for PMX to sack Shamsul who bears the “giant slayer” reputation by virtue of having defeated former Melaka chief minister and UMNO strongman Tun Mohd Ali Rustam (now Melaka governor) not once but twice in the 13th General Election (GE13) (2013) and GE 14 (2018) respectively,
This is particularly obvious among the faction supporting former deputy president Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli given Shamsul was partially instrumental in rallying behind PMX’s eldest daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar who eventually toppled the former economy minister at the party’s national leadership polls in May.

One presumably Sarawakian grassroot PKR member hit the nail on the head by stating that Shamsul’s action has not only embarrasses PMX but “also tarnishes PKR’s reputation as a party that has always raised the flag of integrity and anti-corruption”.
“When insiders (leaders) fail to carry out their duties properly, the entire party bears the consequences,” he lamented.

“Those who hold the position of pol-sec are not just representatives of the PM but the face of the administration. When they fail, the rakyat don’t see individual mistakes but view it as the failure of the government. And that itself is a betrayal of the reformasi mandate.” –  Focus Malaysia

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