KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has condemned criticism of Hannah Yeoh and Lo Su Fui’s appointments to the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories), saying it was “atrocious” to reject leaders purely on the basis of race.
Speaking to editors and senior journalists during a briefing at Seri Perdana today, Anwar said it was unacceptable — and incomprehensible — that such views were still being expressed in contemporary Malaysian politics.
“To reject a person because of her colour and race, this is atrocious in this day and age.
“Sometimes, I just can’t understand the level of tolerance of some people.
“Some groups, considered most corrupt in decades, they got away because of sympathy,” he said, as reported by The Star.
Anwar was responding to remarks by PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, who criticised the appointments of Yeoh as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) and Lo as her deputy, arguing that the move would strengthen DAP’s influence in Kuala Lumpur and other urban areas.
The prime minister rejected that framing, stressing that Cabinet members serve the government rather than individual parties.
“She (Yeoh) represents government policies, and not DAP. She represents the government.
“I don’t represent PKR, but the government and its policies,” Anwar said, according to The Star.
Anwar added that the racial background of a minister was irrelevant to their ability to serve, describing objections rooted in ethnicity as politically misplaced and damaging.
The latest Cabinet reshuffle yesterday saw Yeoh moved from her previous role as youth and sports minister, while Lo, 44, was appointed deputy minister. Lo was formerly a special officer to the Sabah chief minister and is the current Tawau MP.
The reshuffle came amid vacancies in several key portfolios, including the Economy Ministry, Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability, Entrepreneurship Development and Cooperatives, and the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry.
