SHAH ALAM, August 15: The Chief Minister of Kedah, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir should advise his father first before making a statement to not give projects to family members.
It is like ‘not practicing what you preach’, said the Sungai Petani Member of Parliament, Datuk Johari Abdul on Mukhriz’s statement which is dubious because his father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is an extreme practitioner of nepotism.
“Mukhriz should advise his father first who had previously said himself to be clean and trustworthy, but is actually ‘dirty’ and practices cronyism,” he told TVSelangor.
Yesterday, Mukhriz made a statement of allegedly not wanting to give any project to family members to avoid conflicts of interest but wanted to ask for their ‘advice’.
In 1997 Mahathir tried to save his children’s companies by a ‘bail-out’ using funds from Petronas when the country was faced with an economic downturn which led to the dismissal of ANwar Ibrahim.
Elaborating, Johari however welcomed the statement which he described as a good sign if implemented because Mukhriz’s father failed to do the same.
“Just look at his father, talking about Malay supremacy, (being) clean and trustworthy but in reality, he practices an extreme form of nepotism.
“Not only did he reap profit from the wealth of the people to be given to cronies, but he also gave big projects to his children and family-owned companies,” he said when contacted by TVSelangor.
He said that Mukhriz should first practice the open tender system by prioritising the people of Kedah, before making a statement to ‘not give projects to family members’.