COMMENT I wonder if Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan forgot to read the handbook that came with his new cabinet appointment.

I truly wonder if he is aware of the fact that he is minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), and no longer just a backbencher politician in charge of BN's strategic communications that got Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's back, so to speak.

While I applaud his epic trolling of BN's enemies online, and especially on Twitter, I wonder if he has missed the mark completely with his new appointment, as he does not seem to be making proper use of the great power at his fingertips with great responsibility.

Whatever powers accorded to him comes with the weight of public trust, and like all public officials must know, open to public scrutiny as they shall be held accountable for their actions.

After all, he has been promoted, not anointed. And targeting those who question the government and its policies – which is an expression of legitimate democratic dissent - by using a public agency under his charge, is uncalled for.

And a man of the world like Abdul Rahman should know that democracy does not stop at election's door, but follows all elected officials all their careers, which is why public opinion and perception is the crux of democratic politics, not secret policing the populace to weed out non-conformists.

In any case, the EPU is an adjunct of the PM's Department dedicated to planning and delivering economic initiatives that will better the rakyat's plight, not a political tool to target, vilify and punish those who disagree with the government of the day.

As he often told the opposition, Abdul Rahman should look into the mirror and say "do not politicise this". He of all person should know what it means to practise separation of powers and to separate the government from the party. He is, after all, a highly intelligent man.

It is certainly beyond the EPU's scope to monitor and target companies for supporting those who question the government. That would make it political, persecutorial, and no longer governmental.

Using the EPU for that would make it more like a secret police than a public agency. Is the EPU now on the same tier as Cold-War era Stasi or KGB?

I surely hope not, and I am sure an intelligent man like Abdul Rahman who was able to tell who is Malaysian Official 1 from the US Department of Justice's 1MDB-linked forfeiture filing, would also know this and be as concerned about it.

Though while I have full faith in the veracity of his intelligence, I thoroughly worry about the voracity of his political predilections.

We are who we are and we serve who we serve, but ultimately we are all beholden to the rakyat and the public trust, my dear minister.

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.