Zooming in on gathering, Zahid asks if minister should be fined

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi singled out a minister for a gathering to hand out aid during the ongoing movement control order (MCO) and questioned if he should be fined.

Zahid did not name the minister but cited a gathering on Feb 7 to hand out aid to 500 residents in Selangor where an RM30,000 allocation was also announced.

Coincidentally, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali had on Feb 7 shared on Twitter that he had visited Chinese families and distributed aid to 500 of them in need. 

Azmin also announced on the microblogging site that he had approved an allocation of RM30,000 to a local organisation so that it could provide free traditional medicine treatment to the community.

"In my opinion, 500 people are too many. I know about the need to contribute, thank you.

"But if the people must do things online, schools must go online, work must go online, why can't the minister's contribution be done online?" Zahid said on Facebook. 

The Bagan Datuk MP said the government is strict about gatherings and questioned why ministers' are exempted from the rules.

He added that even Umno Youth's efforts to provide free sanitisation services were blocked due to the MCO.

Last month, Putrajaya Umno was also fined after an event it organised to give out free frozen chicken saw huge crowds, violating the MCO standard operating procedures.

Noting complaints about double standards on social media, Zahid said such issues have been on people's mind.

"I too have questions if the minister should get a compound. It appears he was violating the National Security Council's directive," he said.

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