SHAH ALAM, 12 Apr: The Selangor Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, is of the opinion that Barisan Nasional (BN) is not qualified to criticise and question the position of the State Economic Advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Abdul Khalid said that BN needs to look at the many former ministers who receive hundreds of thousands of ringgit for holding advisory positions to the Federal Government compared to Anwar, who only receives RM1.
“For example, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu and the former tourism minister, as well as several other ministers receive hundreds of thousands.
“I offered the position to Anwar because for decades, he was the Minister of Finance and has a track record, as well as being recognised by the ‘Europe Institute of Bankers’.
“As smart as I am in economics, I have yet to be recognised,” he said when explaining to the State Opposition Leader, Datuk Shamsuddin Lias (BN-Sungai Burong) who questioned Anwar’s position at the Selangor State Assembly (DNS) yesterday.
Abdul Khalid said that every 10 minutes of Anwar’s opinion is like him sharing 10 years of his experience.
“When we discuss my proposals, he will explain his views in just 10 minutes. In that period, I can know if he agreed or not, and 10 minutes of his opinion means 10 years of experience.
“That is why I think that if we pay him RM300 thousand, the amount is actually little compared to Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Therefore, I do not want to embarrass the State Assembly and you can review how much Idris earns a year,” he said.
When asked by Shamsuddin asked about investment in the Middle East, which was supposedly suggested by Anwar, Abdul Khalid said that it is not to bring in investment from the Middle East.
“Anwar is an advisor to an investment bank in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Similarly with Dallah Al-Baraka which has thousands of millions in investment throughout the country and Anwar has experience there.
“I have been there with Anwar. In terms of investment, Selangor is still the recipient of the most investment. Maybe next time we will receive investment from the Middle East because everyone knows it is not easy to deal with them,” he said.
