Nurul Izzah steps down as adviser to her father Malaysian PM Anwar

Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said on Sunday (Feb 12) that she is no longer serving as his senior economic and finance adviser.

She has instead joined the Finance Minister's special advisory body chaired by Mr Hassan Marican, Ms Nurul Izzah said in a statement.

"Mr Mohd Hassan has invited me to join the special advisory body to help their efforts in strengthening the economy of the country and the people," she said.

She added that she "humbly accepts the responsibility" and "greatly appreciates every opportunity to contribute to a better future for Malaysia".

Ms Nurul Izzah also expressed hope that the services rendered under her new role will be beneficial to the country.

"Malaysians expect an excellent future and solid unity led by the prime minister together with the unity government.

"Thank you to the entire committee. Let's all contribute in any capacity for the sake of our country,” she said.

Late last month, the eldest daughter of Mr Anwar and Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, confirmed in an interview that she had been appointed as senior economic and finance adviser to Prime Minister from Jan 3.

Mr Anwar previously told local media that his daughter will not have any opportunity to enrich herself in her role as senior economic and finance adviser to the prime minister. It was reported previously that Ms Nurul Izzah is not getting paid for the role.

“She will not have the power to take on or directly manage any project or tenders herself,” he was quoted as saying by The Star. 

Mr Anwar reportedly said that Ms Nurul Izzah did not take on the role “to take projects” but to “help” him. 

“My daughter was eager to help me in any way she could. If she came to help me without being given an official position, people will question her intentions even more severely than they do now,” he said. 

Mr Anwar also denied claims of nepotism in his daughter’s appointment, adding that some of his critics were in no place to criticise him as they themselves had given “millions of ringgits worth of contracts” to their children. 

“Nepotism is where (a family member) is given a position to abuse power, enrich themselves, obtain contracts and get paid a huge sum ... This is not the case,” he was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today, though he did not elaborate on the allegations.

During the recent 15th General Elections (GE15), Ms Nurul Izzah lost her Permatang Pauh seat which she held for one term. 

The seat has been occupied by a member of her family since 1982 and is currently held by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia’s Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan.