Anwar Ibrahim was accused of nepotism for appointing his daughter as an adviser to the PM.
Anwar Ibrahim, the prime minister of Malaysia, came under fire for hiring his daughter Nurul Izzah as a free economics and finance advisor.
Although Nurul received no compensation, some detractors viewed the appointment as an example of nepotism because her daughter lacked any background in banking and economics.
Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M), a non-governmental organization, believes that Nurul's nomination "gives the incorrect signal" and, if it is not remedied, will be a factor in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
According to President of the TI-M Muhammad Mohan, "Hopefully the Prime Minister will step in and make changes so that we don't lose Nurul Izzah's brilliance."
Abdul Razak Ismail, a former activist in the Otai Reformist movement that supported Anwar, also opposed Anwar's choice.
"It's easy to perceive. Is there really anyone in Malaysia's 32 million population who can advise the Prime Minister?" According to Abdul and Free Malaysia Today,
Anwar responded by denying that the nomination of his daughter was improper due to allegations of nepotism.
"Nepotism occurs when (family members) are placed in positions of authority where they can exploit it to profit themselves, win contracts, and receive huge salaries. There is no chance that Nurul was appointed through nepotism "Anwar, as reported by The Tuesday, March 31, 2019, Straits Times. 1).
The American Johns Hopkins University awarded Nurul a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's degree in public and social policy. He serves as the vice president of Anwar's People's Justice Party (PKR).
During the most recent general election, Nurul was unable to defeat Perikatan Nasional for a seat in parliament in Permatang Pauh, PKR's stronghold in the region. He received only 6,000 votes at the time. Even though he received 16 000 votes to win in 2018, he did.
Some analysts attempted to evaluate the appointment favorably despite widespread opposition. According to reports, Nurul is an expert in politics. He had adopted wise decisions when handling a variety of issues in the past.
"The idea of the Prime Minister becoming the finance minister also bores me. This visit with Nurul Izzah doesn't interest me either. However, since everything has been taken into account, the response to his appointment is unwarranted "said Jomo Kwame Sundram, an economist and senior counsel to the Khazanah Research Institute.
"I would not consent to this in a perfect world. However, he possesses skills that few are aware of "The Edge Financial Daily cited him as saying this.