Actors Ahmad Idham and Eizlan's contracts with Foreign Ministry terminated
Eizlan Yusof and Ahmad Idham
Its minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah said their contracts have been terminated.
Not mentioning the exact, Sinar Daily has been made to understand that it happened within the past 24 hours.
Saifuddin added that his private secretary Datuk Fizal Fauzi’s contract has also been terminated.
Ahmad Idham was appointed as cultural secretary while Eizlan was made creative advisor on Nov 1 last year.
Prior to the appointment, Ahmad Idham was the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) chief executive officer. He resigned from the position to join Saifuddin at the ministry.
In an interview back in December, Saifuddin said he had to use the resources available to him since the ministry did not allocate a budget to start on cultural diplomacy and these two individuals had offered themselves for the positions.
He had also said Ahmad Idham and Eizlan were not paid handsomely compared to their previous jobs, referring to their current responsibilities as national service.
However, when asked on the reason why their contracts were terminated, Saifuddin said he had no comment on the matter.
"I have no comments on this," he told Sinar Daily.
A source close to the ministry said the two celebrities were hoping to get seat allocations to contest for the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15) under Bersatu’s ticket.
He said they had high political aspirations and were hoping to be endorsed by the minister, who is also Perikatan Nasional Pahang chairman.
This, he said, was not welcomed by party members as they did not carry much weight in politics and had no grassroots.
The source said their fan base and popularity were not strong enough to justify reasons to contest as there were much more qualified candidates.
He, however, did not deny the fact that Ahmad Idham and Eizlan could have been offered to contest under the ticket of other parties.
