“The prime minister has always spoken up against nepotism and cronyism, so this doesn’t look good on him,” Muhammad Mohan told a press conference here.

Although he regarded Nurul Izzah as a person of integrity, Muhammad said the perception arising from her appointment showed that nepotism was “back”.

“I was called up to Parliament two years ago to explain why 71% of Malaysians feel that corruption in the government is a problem. Of all the MPs who asked questions, she was the only one who was sharp and asked very good questions.

“Nurul Izzah is a very valuable person to the country, but it’s just that her father appointing her is the issue,” he said.

Muhammad added that it would not have been an issue if the PKR vice-president was appointed to another ministry.

He hoped that Anwar would respond to the brickbats and calls for him to rescind Nurul Izzah’s appointment as soon as possible.

Nurul Izzah previously served as Lembah Pantai MP for two terms (2008-2018) and one term as Permatang Pauh MP. She failed to defend her Permatang Pauh seat in the 15th general election (GE15), after losing to a Perikatan Nasional candidate.

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