KUALA LUMPUR: The 25 retired senior civil servants (G25) have snubbed the Malay Consultative Council’s (MPM) call for a dialogue, saying that the latter was not appointed by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

The group’s spokesman, Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, told The Malaysian Insider yesterday that she received confirmation from the PMO that it did not appoint MPM as its representative to hold meetings with G25.

This contradicts MPM secretary-general Datuk Dr Hasan Mad’s statement on Monday claiming that PMO appointed MPM to meet with G25 and that a closed-door meeting was being planned.

“I have checked with the PMO, it is not true. The MPM does not represent the PMO,” Noor Farida said.

MPM, a caucus of 284 Malay non-governmental organisations (NGOs), claimed to have received instructions from the PMO last week, but refused to give further details.

MPM did, however, admit that it had yet to inform G25 of the planned meeting.

“Until we sit down with them and talk, we cannot reveal [the issues to be raised during the discussion],” Hasan was reported as saying.

Meanwhile, Noor Farida, a former diplomat, said G25 was now waiting for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to finish managing the flood situation in the east coast.

“Right now, we are committed to our suggestions to Najib,” she said.

Noor Farida added that G25 is seeking an appointment with the PMO, but declined to elaborate on the details.

“Once we [conclude] the meeting, we will issue an official statement,” she said.

The open letter by G25 decried the “lack of clarity and understanding” on Islam’s place within Malaysia’s constitutional democracy, as well as the “serious breakdown of the federal-state division of powers, both in the areas of civil and criminal jurisdictions”.

G25 also called on the prime minister to establish an inclusive consultative committee, and called for a dialogue on Islamic laws. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 31, 2014.