Former foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar stressed that politicisation of the issue by any party would not only affect the image of the ministry and the government, but also Malaysia’s reputation at the international level.
“The practice of recalling diplomats due to a huge flaw during an official visit is normal. Other countries also recall their ambassadors within 24 hours, so it is not something strange to Malaysia.
“In this case, I know I cannot speak on behalf of the foreign minister or the Prime Minister’s Office.
“However, for me, it should have been handled better,” he told Bernama.
In a statement on Monday, Wisma Putra said the failure in coordinating protocol matters resulted in Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s long wait at the arrival hall for passport clearance by Dubai immigration during his visit to the UAE from March 29 to 31.
Apart from that, it said, security measures and motorcade movements that should have been provided for the prime minister according to the SOPs were also non-existent.
Based on his experience, Syed Hamid said there was a basic protocol in handling the visit of the head of government which had been implemented by Wisma Putra for a long time, but he was of the view that there were communication issues that led to the failure.
He said that based on common practice, there were differences when organising official visits, working visits and personal visits. Each type of visit would get a different response from the host.
“Even for personal visits, it is usual for our ambassadors in the host country, due to their calibre, to coordinate basic protocols for the prime minister, such as security, and so on. It’s something very basic and the incident should not have happened.
“In episodes like this, the minister must manage it well. It is a question of responsibility and accountability. Improvements need to be made.
“It used to be common practice that when there is a visit by the prime minister, the foreign minister will go first.
“I would arrive a day or two earlier and ensure all the preparations proceeded smoothly. I don’t know what it’s like now.”
Syed Hamid said the issue will likely have a negative impact on Malaysia-UAE bilateral relations.
But as their actual relationship is friendly and quite deep, this issue as a whole will not affect the two countries’ long-term ties, he said.