This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on February 6, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: A dedicated department was set up in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) solely to manage the duties of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor during the nine years that her husband, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was the premier.

That was the first time a department was set up for the wife of a prime minister who had no official role in the government, the High Court learned yesterday.

This was revealed by Huzairi Zainal Abidin, director of Secretariat & Services Management Division of the PMO, who is the first prosecution witness in Rosmah’s graft trial involving a RM1.25 billion-solar project for rural Sarawak schools which started yesterday.

In his witness statement, Huzairi, 42, told the court that Rosmah had no official position in the government but as the wife of the prime minister, she played a specific role in welfare work and accompanied him during official government ceremonies.

As a result, Rosmah was provided with a private secretary or special officer to plan her schedule for such work, as is given to the  spouses of all prime ministers.

However, shortly after Najib took office in April 2009, Huzairi said he was instructed by the then chief secretary to the prime minister, Tan Sri Ab Aziz Kassim, to set up a division to manage Rosmah’s work schedule which included attending government events with Najib.

“I was ordered to name this section as the First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) although I don’t remember who gave the order.

“Initially, the officer stationed at FLOM was Datuk Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod. She is the special officer of the PM assigned to coordinate matters involving Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor as PM’s wife. She (Siti Azizah) then asked for more officers in this division and she subsequently became the head of the division responsible for assigning those officers,” Huzairi said.

Among those working in the division was Datuk Rizal Mansor, he said, who was Rosmah’s aide and was originally jointly charged with her until his charges were withdrawn by the prosecution.

At the time, the FLOM division was included in the directory on the PMO’s website.

“However, this became a hot issue amid criticisms from the public since an office was specially set up for Rosmah even though she had no office in the government. Some also regarded the FLOM title as being reserved for the Raja Permaisuri Agong,” he said.

The trial, which was supposed to start on Monday, was adjourned for two days due to Rosmah’s ill health. She filed a medical certificate citing neck and back pain, and was hospitalised in a private hospital.

In his opening statement, Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said despite her not occupying an official post in the government, she wielded “considerable influence by reason of her overbearing nature” and that she placed herself in a position where she was able to influence decisions in the public sector.