Plane's vanishing is above politics, says Hisham
Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein today clarified that the situation concerning the disappearance of MH370 is above partisan politics.
He was responding to a question from a journalist during the daily press briefing in KLIA this evening if investigators would quiz Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim ( left ).
After a brief pause, Hishamuddin said: " The government's focus since Day 1 is to search and rescue MH370.
Earlier, in his written statement that was read out, Hishammuddin had also said the following: "I would also like to state that the search for MH370 is bigger than politics.
"I urge all Malaysians to put our differences aside and unite during this difficult time as we focus on finding the aircraft and the 239 people on board."
British tabloid Daily Mail had published an article, quoting sources, which painted pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, a PKR member, as a fervent supporter of Anwar and a "political fanatic".
It also claimed that he had attended the trial of the opposition leader and wept when the conviction verdict was revealed, hours before the Beijing-bound aircraft took off, therefore suggesting that Zaharie could have hijacked the plane in protest.
This has since been disputed by PKR.
Blood relations questioned
However, despite claiming that the issue is above politics, Hishamuddin had drawn flak from the opposition for not inviting its lawmakers to a special briefing on MH370, slated for tonight.
Responding to the matter on his Twitter account, Umno MP Kota Belud Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the Transport Ministry did not issue invitations to BN MPs.
He explained that the ministry had responded to a request for a briefing by the BN Backbenchers Club.
Meanwhile, a French reporter had also asked Hishammuddin during the press conference to confirm if the latter was a cousin of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
The reporter also asked if Hishammuddin was "protecting" Najib.
An annoyed Hishammuddin, who misheard the question, replied with the following: "I can confirm Najib is my cousin... I don't know what I (am) supposed to be protected from. I do not wish to go down this line of questioning."
The matter was not raised again by other reporters.
During the initial stages following the plane's disappearance, Hishamuddin and Malaysian officials came under intense criticism over the allegedly inept handling of the crisis.
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