Takiyuddin disputes Zafrul on lottery draws, says it was never brought to cabinet

PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan has denied former finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz’s claim that the previous administration’s cabinet decided to increase special lottery draws to 22 times a year.

Instead, Takiyuddin, who was the energy and natural resources minister under Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration, said Zafrul had never brought the matter to the cabinet for its consideration then.

“As far as we remember, (the issue of special lottery draws’ frequency) was never brought to the cabinet, nor were there any cabinet papers or ministerial memoranda. We’d like to ask Zafrul to confirm this,” the Kota Bharu MP said.

“When (an issue) is not brought to the cabinet, we have no information, (but) when the matter was brought up several times, we stated our advice. However, it was already decided under the Finance Ministry’s purview.”

Takiyuddin said this at a press conference alongside PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and party president Abdul Hadi Awang, who had earlier delivered his policy speech and officiated the 72nd central PAS muktamar in Kota Bharu today.

Ping-pong blame

Yesterday, Zafrul asserted that the decision to raise special lottery draws to 22 times a year was the collective responsibility of the cabinet, which also included PAS ministers at the time.

Noting that special draws were initially introduced in 1999, he added that the 22-draw annual ceiling had already existed under previous BN administrations before he became finance minister.

He said this after Kelantan PAS Youth chief Firdaus Nawi pointed out that Zafurl had approved the increase while the Islamist party had opposed it.

Firdaus highlighted the matter in an attempt to dispel Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s taunts that the number of special lottery draws had risen to 22 from eight when PAS was in government.

The matter was cited by Anwar and his supporters to counter Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor’s warning to the prime minister that Kedahans would “curse” him if he did not help eradicate gambling from the state.

READ MORE: Sanusi's gambling 'curse' on Anwar gets 22-special draw boomerang

Kedah’s attempt to ban gambling outlets was foiled after the Court of Appeal held that the regulation of gambling and lotteries falls exclusively under the Finance Ministry. The Federal Court then rejected leave for appeal.

In response to Sanusi’s declaration that the ball to cancel gambling outlet licences is now in Anwar’s court as finance minister, the Pakatan Harapan chairperson and his team zeroed in on the 22 special draws, which the prime minister lowered to eight after coming to office.

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