Zafrul Aziz denies resigning from his finance post
17 Mar 2022 03:30pm
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz says due to emergency he could not attend the Dewan Rakyat sititng this morning.
This comes after his absence in the lower house where he was to take part in two key orders of the day – the Minister’s Question Time (MQT) and the tabling of four government bills for the first reading.
However, Zafrul wrote in his Facebook page that it is not true.
"I did not attend the Parliament session to answer during the Ministerial Question Time (MQT) because I had a minor emergency," he said referring to media reports that he will tender his resignation.His absence was first brought up during the MQT session when he was supposed to respond to queries on debts accrued by the 1Malaysia Development Bhd financial scandal.
Yesterday Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced Malaysians will be allowed to withdraw up to RM10,000 from their EPF. Ismail Sabri had said those affected have been requesting to ease their burden after the pandemic.
Zafrul in his Facebook posting further said his deputy Mohd Shahar Abdullah was in Parlimen to reply on the bills. "This was planned earlier. Last year, the deputy finance minister had presented (the bills)," he said.
As for the MQT, Zafrul said only the minister could reply to the questions but due to the "minor" emergency, another minister replied on his behalf. .
"This is not the first time another minister replied on behalf of another minister," he said, thanking Minister in Prime Minister's department for Islamic Affairs, Senator Datuk Idris Ahmad to reply on his behalf.
Zafrul said he will submit a written reply on the additional questions asked during the MQT.
