THE Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today warned that it will take action against any party that uses the department’s name for its own interests.

“Such an action is irresponsible and gives a negative perception to the credibility of the department and the government,” said the department in a statement today.

“The PMO will not hesitate to take action, including legal action, against parties that do that.”

While the PMO did not explain who it was referring to, earlier today in the Dewan Rakyat, Ayer Hitam MP and MCA president Wee Ka Siong said he was threatened by an individual over his remarks on the import of eggs from India in the house last month.

He said he had received a call from the individual, claiming to be from J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd, to retract his statement on the matter.

He named the individual as “Deepak”.

He also said the individual had used the PMO’s name in asking him (Wee) to issue a statement to clarify his remarks.

“He said he had held a discussion with the PMO for me to issue a statement to correct my remarks in parliament. What is this? I did not mention any company or name, so why am I receiving such threats?

“I am merely the people’s representative regarding the issue, but this action has belittled the parliamentary institution.

“I refuse to be a pawn and I will not bow to pressure and retract my statements on the issue,” he said.

Wee also said he held a discussion with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during MCA’s Chinese New Year open house on the long-standing egg shortage problem.

“I told the prime minister that I did not agree with importing eggs and we need to find a solution to this,” he said.

“Hence, this (out-of-court settlement) is not an instruction from the prime minister, but people are misusing his name and it has become a disease in this case. This should not happen and needs to be investigated.”

PKR’s Sungai Buloh MP R. Ramanan supported Wee by saying that the threats made against the former transport minister were a form of intimidation.

“Not only is this an unethical action but also a form of intimidation. If we continue to let the public use the name of the prime minister or the department as an excuse, they will continue to abuse it in the long run.”

Previously, Wee had raised the egg shortage problem in the Dewan Rakyat, saying that the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry should focus on addressing the poor supply of domestic eggs instead of importing eggs from India and other countries.

The following week, he received a lawyer’s letter from the importers of eggs from India for raising the issue.

Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu has said J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd was the only Malaysian company granted the award to import eggs from the country.

He said the government would continue to import eggs until local supply stabilises. – March 15, 2023.