Following BERSIH’s not-so-flattering ‘report card‘ of the Madani government, all eyes are on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (PMX) and his administration.
The latest person to call out PMX is digital creator Kapten B Khalifa, who took to his Facebook page to accuse PMX of going back on his word regarding private companies sponsoring government and democratic visits overseas.
He wrote, “The same person but saying different things. Don’t say this is edited, yeah? The 2022 article is from Suara Keadilan (a political news platform owned by the political party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat [PKR].), while the 2024 article is by Berita Harian.”
Basically, in 2022, Suara Keadilan reported that PMX had ruled that civil servants’ overseas visits will no longer be funded by private companies, and will instead be fully funded through contractual obligations, to showcase good governance.
However, just yesterday, Berita Harian reported that PMX revealed that 70% to 80% of his official travel and visits to 5 countries were covered by private companies that accompanied him on the trips, to ensure that the expenses were managed efficiently.
He added that the companies that helped finance his travel costs are those with business and investment interests in the country.
“Recently, we did something different because I saw that travel costs are usually quite high. So, this time, what we are doing is with the cooperation of the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz),”
“We invited the companies involved, such as PETRONAS, Sapura Energy, Yinson, PROTON and (semiconductor companies) who came to follow in the (national) delegation. They paid for the fare and costs. So, if I am not wrong, around 70% to 80% of the flight costs are borne by companies that have investment business interests,” he said.
PMX added that the government will help these companies, in terms of imports and exports, and that the 5 trips mentioned were to Cairo, Riyadh, Lima, Rio de Janeiro and Doha.
While PMX did admit that this approach is a new method to manage funding, Kapten B Khalifa believes that this goes against what PMX said back in 2022.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: “UPSR get D, SPM can get A” – PMX Responds to BERSIH Giving Him a Grade D in ‘Report Card’
