A rights group has urged Putrajaya to ban support letters by ministers or their aides after the political secretary to the deputy prime minister came under fire after he was reported to have issued such a document.“This is an abuse of governmental power, pure and simple. It should be remembered that the letter was issued under the letterhead of the DPM herself, the second highest elected public official in the country. Where then is the change promised so often by Pakatan Harapan?,” Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) executive director Latheefa Koya asked in a statement.
Romli Ishak, the political secretary to Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was slammed for issuing a letter about a catering contract to the education minister’s office. Romli, however, denied any abuse of power, arguing that while he did pen the letter, there was nothing in it to suggest he was recommending the company for the contract.
He also said party members regularly asked for letters to accompany their bids as referrals and “politicians could not turn them down”, but added that he regularly issues such letters for party members to give them “the assurance and confidence to put in bids”.
No comments:
Post a Comment