PETALING JAYA: PKR today urged Barisan Nasional government to stop breaching caretaker government ethics.
PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his ministers had used government machinery and state coffers to promote BN after the dissolution of Parliament on April 3.
“BN fails to see the difference between campaigning and state administration. It also fails to see the difference between a caretaker government and an elected government.
“This shows that BN is incapable of being honest in fulfilling its duties,” she said.
She cited several examples when Najib, on April 5, announced three new projects worth RM8 billion in Putrajaya.
“On the same day, Federal Territories Minister, Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, used Kuala Lumpur City Hall [DBKL] machinery for a new road launch event in Pantai Dalam,” said Nurul.
Among other incidents cited by Nurul are:
- On April 8, Najib announced that discount card, the 1Malaysia Privilege Card, which was launched in August 2012, would be expanded to the 725,000 civil service retirees.
- On April 9, the BN chief announced the construction of a RM400 million complex in Perak, which will be built by a China-owned company, CSR Zhu Zhou Electric Locomotive Company.
Nurul urged BN to emulate the Selangor and Penang state governments, which had enforced a strict code of conduct for a caretaker government.
She said the Selangor and Penang leaders had returned their official cars and stopped making major policy decision during this period.
“It is important for the federal government to halt any major policy decision at this juncture in the interest of fair play,” she said.
Nurul added that Najib and his government were only making a mockery of the integrity pledge they signed with the Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) by behaving this way (breaching the ethics).
“He might as well cancel the integrity pledge, which is now obvious was signed just to boost his public image,” she said.
On Feb 20, Najib and his fellow BN component party presidents signed an integrity pledge with TI-M to promote fair play and curb money politics during the general election.
