Umno: Return of Jasa will ‘atone for Harapan government’s past sins’
- UPDATED 6.20PM | Added more details regarding Pemandu.
The proposal by Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin to reactivate the now-defunct Special Affairs Department (Jasa) has received the nod of Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.
He said the move would help to “atone for the sins” of the previous Pakatan Harapan government, which, among others, allegedly used the accumulated RM1 trillion national debt as an excuse to dissolve several government agencies and departments.
- UPDATED 6.20PM | Added more details regarding Pemandu.
The proposal by Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin to reactivate the now-defunct Special Affairs Department (Jasa) has received the nod of Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.
He said the move would help to “atone for the sins” of the previous Pakatan Harapan government, which, among others, allegedly used the accumulated RM1 trillion national debt as an excuse to dissolve several government agencies and departments.
“Personally, I wish to express my thanks and gratitude for when the deputy minister announced the proposal to reactive Jasa which has proven contributions to the country.
“Many Malaysians may remember the black episode of the dissolution of Jasa, the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad), the National Service Training Programme (PLKN), the Prime Minister's Department's Performance and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and other agencies throughout Harapan’s 22-month rule.
“As a result, thousands of staff in those sectors, especially contract staff, were terminated. This closed off their main source of income, leaving them to find other means of survival for their families,” he said in a statement uploaded on Facebook.
For the record, Pemandu was not dissolved by the Harapan administration, but was instead “disestablished” beginning in 2017 when Najib was still prime minister.
Some of its functions were absorbed by other agencies in the civil service while Pemandu’s former management and staff set up a consulting firm Pemandu Associates Sdn Bhd.
The company still operates today.
Meanwhile, Shahril stressed that the move would also help to atone for the “cruelty” of the previous government, which he claimed had acted with little justification.
“The announcement [...] to reactivate Jasa is the right one. It is to atone for the sins of the past government.
“[...] finally, the use of ‘towering debt’ excuse was revealed with the interim prime minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) himself approved a special budget of RM20 billion when the country faced the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Not only that, his acknowledgement that the country had over RM2 trillion to spend in critical situations shocked Malaysians that prior to this, had been plagued by the not diminishing debt,” he added.
This comes as Zahidi was reported to have said on Saturday that the Perikatan Nasional government was looking to reactive Jasa and would prioritise former staff of the propaganda unit who lost their jobs during Harapan’s tenure.
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