Let’s not talk about the allegations made against Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu when he was Perak Menteri Besar.

Allegations of incompetency and under-performances brought up by his own allies which eventually led to him losing a confidence vote in the state assembly.

Need we be reminded that it was Umno which led the ousting of Bersatu’s Ahmad Faizal at a time when both parties were not at war?

Unlike now. Back then even PAS, after initial “displeasure” accepted Faizal’s removal as MB. And the affairs in Perak did not trouble Perikatan Nasional at federal level, at least not badly or openly.

All that seemed to suggest that everybody “agreed” with the allegations against Faizal.

But this article is not about his so-called “incompetency” and “under-performances”.

The allegations were never proven anyway. Publicly that is.

This is also not about the appointment of Faizal per se as special adviser with ministerial status.

This is about Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin making such an an appointment during current trying times.

It does not matter whether it is Faisal or anybody else. Yes, it is the prerogative of the prime minister to appoint advisers. But must it be done now? When the pandemic is ravaging us?

Is it necessary? Given the fact the prime minister already has a long list of people working for him? That on top of the 70-plus senior ministers, ministers and deputy ministers, not to mention the various think tanks and what not.

Surely they can be countered on to give the PM valuable advice?

In short, Muhyiddin has more than enough people around him or at his disposal, if advice is what he is looking for.

But as Faizal is the chosen one, has he not been giving advice in his capacity as Muhyiddin’s No.2 in Bersatu? Muhyiddin is Bersatu president while Faizal is deputy president.

Surely the deputy president can or must advise the president not only on party issues but government matters as well, since the president is also the prime minister.

Has he not been doing that to the point that he needs to be elevated to a very high position in the Prime Minister’s Office?

I ask again. Must it be now?

As adviser with ministerial status, it means the adviser is a minister. And as a minister he is entitled to have his own band of officers and support staff to help him carry out his duties.

Obviously the emoluments of the adviser (in this case Faizal) would amount to e hefty sum, a very hefty sum, I would say.

Then there is the office space needed “befitting” an adviser with ministerial status and his team, not forgetting logistics. I can go on and on. 

So the question is: Does the government need to spend big money now with the hardship the nation is facing and the suffering the rakyat are undergoing because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

In fact, those were the same questions and words I used in a piece I wrote for The Edge in April 2020, when Muhyiddin appointed PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang as special envoy to the Middle East. Hadi’s appointment also came with ministerial status.

That’s the thing. Muhyiddin has this knack of making political appointments, perceived as rewards for support rendered or to shore up support needed.

In the case of Hadi, it was to appease PAS as their president was not made minister when Muhyiddin first announced his cabinet line-up upon seizing power courtesy of the infamous Sheraton Move.

Appeasing PAS was and still is crucial to keep the wobbly Perikatan Nasional government intact.

Political appointees aplenty, I would say, despite federal ministers Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Tan Sri Annuar Musa and of course Hadi always quick to claim the Perikatan Nasional government, in particular Muhyiddin, is “totally focused” in fighting COVID-19.

Yet, despite the “total focus” on the war against COVID-19, the prime minister somehow has the luxury of time to appoint yet another adviser.

May I ask the same question DAP’s Lim Guan Eng is asking: How does Faizal’s appointment help the battle against COVID-19 or overcome the economic recession?

Faizal is to advise the prime minister on community relations and communications as well as socioeconomic development. But, he has got ministers taking care of that already, right?

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)