The government fully covered the expenses of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s trip to the 30th edition of the Nikkei International Forum in Japan late last month.
According to a report by Berita Harian, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim revealed this while adding that, although the former Prime Minister often attacked the MADANI government, as the current Prime Minister, he did not hold onto any of the negativity.
“Every application for expenses abroad by former Prime Ministers has certain rules, which are important to be approved by the Prime Minister. Recently, he applied to go to the Nikkei Conference in Japan. So, he applied to me, I approved it,”
“Although I remember (he applied for a) 9-person (delegation), I approved for 7 people with expenses of around RM486,000,” he said.
Many questioned the amount spent
While the RM486,000 expenses seemed excessive to the public, Anwar further explained that all former Prime Ministers had the right to apply for funding, but it was up to him to approve it.
“I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings, there are actually regulations that allow (the funding) provided that the Prime Minister approves it. I don’t want to take a negative stance even though (Mahathir) attacks us on a daily basis, I still approved it,” he added.
At the end of May, Dr Mahathir travelled to Japan to attend and deliver a keynote speech at the 30th edition of the Nikkei International Forum.
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