Federal minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil should love her post less and love the party more, by stepping down to prevent her personal baggage from damaging Umno.
“(She) must think of the damage (it is doing) to the party. Don’t love your post too much,” former Umno president Dr Mahathir Mohamad (right) told reporters at a press conference after his inaugural address as Perdana University chancellor in Serdang today.
A leader, Mahathir said, must know when it is time to step down, giving himself as an example, saying he left his lofty post on his own after 22 years in power.
“Even I, when it has been too long (in power) and people got bored, I left,” he quipped.
“It is up to her,” he said.
Mahathir was commenting on his earlier call for Shahrizat, who is Wanita Umno chief, to step down following a scandal involving her family and alleged misappropriation of some RM250 million in public funds by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).
Millions of ringgit have allegedly been siphoned out of the publicly funded company to purchase condominiums, cars and pay for private holidays.
However, Shahrizat and her family have defended themselves from any wrongdoing.
The matter is now the focal point of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission graft probe and a police commercial crimes investigation.
Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (left) said the company managed by Shahrizat’s husband and children had breached the terms of the loan given by the government.
Nazri told reporters “there was a constructive breach of trust” as funds dedicated for the cattle farming project were used for different purposes.
“It was specifically for a project that could raise cattle and the produce to be sold at a cheaper price,” said Nazri, as reported by the New Straits Times .
On Sunday, Nazri urged the company to return the RM250 million of federal funds, adding that the public would not be satisfied otherwise.
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