Malaysia PM Anwar rejects Mercedes S600 as official car, warns against wastage of public funds

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has rejected the use of a recently purchased Mercedes-Benz S600 limousine as his official car.

Instead, he said that he will use any available vehicle at the Prime Minister’s Department for his duties.

“I would like to inform you that yesterday, I refused to use a Mercedes S600 vehicle that was purchased and obtained by the Prime Minister’s Department before I came into office,” he wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday (Nov 27).

“The move was taken because I don’t want any new expenses made on me.”

On Saturday night, he had made a similar remark after prayers at a mosque in Selangor.

He said that no new official car would be bought for his use and no new unnecessary furniture will be bought by his office, as part of a new culture against wastage of public funds that must be practiced by all.

“The condition is that there are no new purchases in the prime minister’s office,” he told reporters.

Anwar, 75, previously announced that he would not be taking his prime minister salary, in line with a promise that he had made during the 15th General Election (GE15) campaigning.

He also announced that the Cabinet size will be reduced and that he is also seeking the agreement of parliamentarians who will be appointed as ministers to reduce their salaries.

He has yet to announce his Cabinet line-up and said on Sunday that he will discuss the appointments with his coalition partners in the following days.

Agencies