Khalid moves to allay criticism over 'semi-declaration' of assets

Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim has attempted to assuage criticisms over the state's announcement that state Exco members need not declare assets which they had accumulated prior to their appointment.

In doing so, Khalid (pic) said transparency remained a key commitment in his administration.

He was responding to his Penang counterpart Lim Guan Eng’s jibe that the 'semi-declaration' of assets was no different than Barisan Nasional's reasoning.

“We appreciate Lim and DAP’s concern on being transparent in the assets declaration for Selangor state excos. Selangor does not deny the importance of the matter to avoid abuse of power, but we differ opinion on whether it should be revealed to the public,” Khalid said.

Khalid had cited 'security concerns' for concealing information from public about the wealth of exco members before their appointment, and said their past accumulated assets may be declared only to the state government, adding that during their current tenure, any change of assets should also be declared.

“This is sufficient to ensure no abuse of power which could result in conflict of interests in purchase and sale of assets,” he said.

Lim, who is DAP secretary general, however said DAP representatives in Selangor would ignore the directive.

He dismissed Khalid’s concern over 'personal safety', and reminded how he and Penang exco members had declared all their assets without their personal safety threatened.