KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Ahmad Soffian Mohd Shariff finally disclosed that his reason for resigning as Zuraida Kamaruddin’s press secretary was linked to his lawyer wife’s abrupt removal from the ongoing inquest of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

Ahmad Soffian said the Attorney General’s instruction for his wife, Syazlin Mansor, to withdraw from representing the Fire and Rescue Department and the Housing and Local Government Ministry in Adib’s inquest, was a contributing factor even as he praised his ex-boss Zuraida, who is the housing and local government minister and PKR vice-president.

“Zuraida is a good boss. She is the best minister in the Pakatan Harapan Cabinet,” he told reporters here after Syazlin held a press conference.

“It’s not because of KPKT,” he said, referring to the Housing and Local Government Ministry.

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“I just don’t feel confident in the Pakatan Harapan government.

“There are a lot of things which I felt should not have happened in Malaysia Baharu,” he added, citing for example the problems surrounding the PTPTN public student loan scheme.

Ahmad Soffian quit as Zuraida’s press secretary on June 10, more than a year after he took up the job.

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Ahmad Soffian, who previously worked as senior communications officer at the Selangor state-owned Institut Wanita Berdaya, also expressed his dissatisfaction with PH not fulfilling its 2018 election manifesto.

He added that he was disappointed when Attorney General Tommy Thomas revoked his wife’s appointment at the Adib inquest “because even the Opposition didn’t politicise her appointment”.

He said now that he was no longer working for the government, he was free to speak out and criticise PH.

“We need to criticise the current government.”

When asked why he tendered his resignation via WhatsApp, Ahmad Soffian said he couldn’t bear to meet Zuraida because she was “a very good boss”.

“I didn’t have the heart to meet her face-to-face.”

*Malay Mail made an error earlier in stating the tenure of Ahmad Soffian’s job as Zuraida’s press secretary. He had started the job in May 2018, not May 2019. The error has since been corrected.