Umno MP to Najib: Hire new advisers
(MM) – Datuk Seri Najib Razak needs to employ new advisers who can provide the prime minister with fresher ideas on governance, Umno MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed suggested today.
The Pulai MP claimed that Najib’s current advisers have not only failed to win Barisan Nasional (BN) better result in the last general elections, but have led to a downgrade in the ruling coalition’s image.
“The trust in old advisers has been proven to fail in giving a better result to BN in the 13th general election, in addition to giving a negative image towards BN.
“Every word uttered by the BN government have become a joke and bogeyman of the public until it seems hard to regain support from the public,” Nur Jazlan was reported saying by Malay daily, Sinar Harian.
The chairman of the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee pointed out that opposition leaders are not actually better than their BN counterparts, but might be preferred by voters since they are angry with the status quo.
“Therefore, for me the failure of BN to optimise the use of party machinery to inform the public will bring a huge disaster to BN itself,” he added.
Nur Jazlan was also reported to have criticised the government’s employ of private consultants to rejuvenate its image despite having at its disposal 1.3 million civil servants.
Putrajaya spent a whopping RM7.2 billion since 2009 to hire private consultants for national projects, according to the Finance Ministry.
The ministry revealed last month a gradual rise in the bills for private consultancy firms from RM1.3 billion in 2009 — Najib took office — to RM1.63 billion in 2010, followed by RM1.8 billion in 2011, RM1.82 billion in 2012 and RM722 million from January to October this year.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim also revealed in October that the Prime Minister’s Department spent RM212 million on foreign consultants over the past five years since 2008.
In a written parliamentary reply, Shahidan had also in October said the government is spending over RM174,000 a month just on the salaries and allowances for seven senior politicians who are appointed into public office.
Shahidan had listed a host of familiar names among the seven political appointees, including ex-Information, Communication and Culture Minister Tan Sri Rais Yatim, who is now a social and cultural adviser to the government.
Also on the list were Umno’s Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis as the prime minister’s adviser and special envoy to the United States; ex-MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu as special envoy to India and South India on Infrastructure; ex-MCA president Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting as special prime ministerial envoy to China; and Umno’s Datuk Mohd Johari Baharum as a special prime ministerial adviser on the Northern Corridor economic project.
Completing the list were Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Md Zin as religious adviser to the prime minister and Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil as adviser on women’s entrepreneurial and professional development.
Their pay packages range from RM20,000 a month to RM27,227.20 a month, Shahidan had said.
