PM should consider relinquishing Finance Minister portfolio – Hiew

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Hiew

Hiew

KOTA KINABALU: Luyang assemblyman Hiew King Cheu has called on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to consider relinquishing his position as Finance Minister and to seriously look into appointing a suitable and qualified successor as there are advantages and merits for the Prime Minister to not hold the finance portfolio.

Hiew said the prevailing situation now was not conducive for Malaysia, and it looked bad when the opposition constantly attacked and accused the government over the 1MDB case. The imminent impact and damage to the whole country from this situation could be immense.

“In the past, since the formation of Malaysia, Prime Ministers starting from Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak to Tun Hussein Onn had appointed another person to hold the finance portfolio. During Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time, the finance portfolio was held by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. However, when Anwar was removed as deputy prime minister cum finance minister, Dr Mahathir took over as the Finance Minister and thereafter the pattern of PM cum Finance Minister prevailed during the term of Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and on to the present Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak,” he said in a statement yesterday.

According to Hiew, in major countries in the world, by convention, the finance portfolio is always held by another person. In doing so, it can bring about independency of work, reduce tendency for abuse of power, allow more transparency and can bring about higher credibility of the Finance Ministry. More importantly, it would allow the Prime Minister more leeway to concentrate on discharging his duties as the PM to formulate effective future plans to benefit the country.

Being a person who loves Malaysia so much, Hiew said he would like to see Malaysia being highly respected by the international communities, and at the same time advance towards prosperity with peace and harmony in the country, which in order to achieve this, there must be strong political will and full commitment from the leaders.