PM: Arab world, others contacted over Gaza conflict

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has contacted leaders of the Arab world as well as Turkiye and Iran for a discussion to be held on the Palestine-Israel conflict, says the Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he also proposed for the discussion to not just be among leaders of these Islamic nations but to be extended to countries “with a positive approach” to the issue, such as Brazil, Ireland, Russia, China and Bolivia.

“I have raised the idea for these countries to be included because of their approach and stand in defending human rights.

“However, there has been no consensus to bring in other countries (into the discussion).

“The decision now is, after discussing it with Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia) and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye, is for a meeting to be held as soon as possible,” he said at the Prime Minister’s Department monthly gathering yesterday.

He added that a date for the meeting was expected to be known in a few days.

Anwar said the crisis plaguing Palestine had been openly debated by the Western world, with mass gatherings and demonstrations held.

Anwar said during his recent meetings with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, the latter said that in the early days of the latest Palestine-Israel conflict, two-thirds of the Dutch population was pro-Israel.

“Rutte observed that since then, the people have openly expressed their sympathy and support towards Palestine and Gaza,” he added.

Anwar also said that good relations between Malaysia and Egypt had enabled humanitarian aid to be delivered to the people of Palestine expeditiously.

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, he said, had kept to his word to facilitate humanitarian assistance from Malaysia.

“In a meeting with El-Sisi, I had asked for priority to be given to aid from Malaysia.

“I am thankful that he held to that promise. The goods meant for Palestine managed to cross the border easily,” he added.

On another matter, Anwar told department heads to review proposals in the Auditor-General’s Report even if it did not concern their area so that they could use the suggestions to improve governance within their organisations.

He also wants discussions and reviews carried out on the report to be recorded in the minutes of such meetings and given to the Chief Secretary of the Government.

“This way, they can take note of the issues pointed out and the suggestions given so that the departments can avoid making the same mistakes,” he said.

Anwar explained that he wanted this to be done as some of the issues raised in the report had been recurring over the years.

“When I was first Finance Minister (in the 1990s), I chaired the anti-corruption management committee. There are some issues raised in the Auditor-General’s Report back then which has continued to happen.

“There are incidents of RM400 watches or clocks that were charged at RM4,000 per piece. Books for schoolchildren that never reached them when the books had already been paid for.

“It is still happening because of weak monitoring. This must change. There must be value in the work carried out by civil servants,” he added.

He said it was important to improve governance and policies as well as stop leakages as they cost the government billions of ringgit.

Some of the leakages, he said, were also due to targeted subsidies not being put in place.