Commentary by Mustafa K. Anuar

DEFENCE Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s recent decision to reject a letter of support supposedly written by his deputy Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz to have the latter’s son appointed to Pharmaniaga Berhad’s board of directors, is a welcoming gesture.

This is because the letter, dated June 5 and bearing – lo and behold – the official letterhead of the deputy defence minister, constitutes nepotism, as rightly admitted by Ismail Sabri himself.

Although Ismail Sabri had initially given his approval, which was scribbled on the said letter, to the chairman of the Armed Forces Fund Board, he subsequently stopped short of going through the process to its logical conclusion after sensing the request was questionable.

The letter, which had made its rounds on social media, was roundly condemned by netizens as well as concerned Malaysians, as they fear that this could lead to abuse of power and subvert transparency, accountability, fairness and professionalism.

This rejection is also significant in that it occurred in the wake of Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s unabashed promise to issue support letters to Bersatu youth members at a time when he was campaigning for the wing’s chief position.

To put it crudely, it was vote-buying.

Ismail Sabri’s action will go a long way towards putting paid to such unethical practice, especially among young politicians who aspire to move swiftly up the political ladder.

The defence minister, however, defended his deputy by saying that the latter could have bypassed him, which he did not, in order to get his son appointed.

Hence, he stressed, Ikmal Hisham did not abuse his position.

Of course, if Ikmal Hisham did appoint himself his son to the sought-after position, that would have been blatant abuse of power.

However, writing a support letter in this way does not necessarily absolve him of power abuse.

The letter, which carries Ismail Sabri’s approval and bearing an official letterhead of the deputy defence minister, would carry some weight to the effect that certain underlings would find it difficult to ignore, let alone reject, the request.

There is also another downside to this misconduct – securing the said position in such a dubious manner will go against the interest of Ikmal’s son.

People would cast doubt on the capability of his son since he got the job “because of his father”, even though he may very well qualify for the job.

The stigma that comes with such an act of nepotism would not be able to make him hold his head high, if pride in his profession and dignity are of utmost importance to him.

Besides, this malpractice is unfair to those who do not have political connections to compete on a level playing field even though they are well qualified for the position.

To be sure, abuse of power is a nagging factor that irritates right-thinking Malaysians who care for justice, transparency and professionalism in decision-making positions.

Moreover, this happened against the backdrop of the controversial way in which heads of the government-linked companies have been selected in recent times.

The deputy defence minister’s eventual retraction of his request is most appreciated. It shows that nepotism is indefensible. – August 23, 2020.