Three reasons Tengku Zafrul should resign as Minister

The title of this article has nothing to do with the fact that Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz was re-admitted into the Unity Government’s Cabinet via the backdoor despite having lost in GE15. Such shamelessness has become the norm in Malaysian politics.

Neither has it anything to do with his dismal performance as Finance Minister – a portfolio he held under two PMs before being made the International Trade and Industry Minister by Anwar Ibrahim under the current government.

Or the fact that Zafrul has recently been appointed to the Umno Supreme Council where he’s stated his intention to vie for a spot there during the upcoming party elections. Although the decision demonstrates his lack of political acumen, and by extension his intellect and moral judgement, given how the party has been roundly rejected by the electorate, and more so after it joined forces with arch-nemesis, the DAP.

Zafrul should resign because he’s not in line with Anwar. There are three incidents to prove this.

The first is the alleged misappropriation of funds disbursed during the pandemic under the various stimulus and aid packages. Anwar has revealed that some RM300 million had been misappropriated. As the Minister of Finance then, Zafrul is a key figure in the scheme of things.

His current boss has now said that something is not quite right and there were suspicious leakages that has led to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission probing into the saga.

The other reason why Zafrul should call it a day in the current Cabinet is the proposed tabling of the White Paper on the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines. While the medical aspects of the procurement did not fall under his jurisdiction during his MOF days, billions of ringgit was involved in a process that involved the Ministry’s oversight.

According to Anwar, the purchase was not made according to procedure, including no signing off by the Attorney-General. Worse still, the then Government tapped into the National Trust Fund (KWAN) for the purchase, which was supposed to be a kitty for future generations.

Lastly, the Jana Wibawa scandal has implicated Zafrul. Berita Harian has reported that Zafrul is a suspect in the rural developmental project where RM5.7 billion has been disbursed. The programme started during the previous Government where Zafrul was the Minister of Finance.

These three incidents show a yawning disconnect between Zafrul and his boss Anwar. The latter has listed down a series of lapses where Zafrul is implicated, if not directly, then by association. In any organisation, the subordinate would have done the honourable thing by resigning, to distance himself or herself from such damning allegations.

Besides, by not resigning, or at least taking leave, can the authorities carry out their probes without fear or favour? This goes against the fundamental principle of good governance and that of politicians having to not only be clean and be seen to be clean.

Even among thieves, there’s honour. But not in Malaysia, where political expediency trumps integrity.