KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar denied allegations that he skipped duties during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Segamat member of parliament explained that he was on approved leave when he left the country for New Zealand at the end of last year.
In a statement, Edmund Santhara said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had approved his request for 55 days of leave on Dec 18 to be in New Zealand with his family, partly because his wife is ill.
He said his request for leave was also approved by Federal Territories Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, adding that he left for New Zealand on Dec 23 and was quarantined until Jan 9.
"The reason I left the country was to visit my children in New Zealand, particularly one of my children who is furthering (his/her) studies.
"Besides that, I needed to be with my 9-year-old child to carry out my responsibilities as a father, after not seeing them for nearly a year. I also needed to visit my wife who is suffering from health problems," he said.
Edmund Santhara said the leave application was made based on the leave entitlement as stipulated in the rules of his appointment as deputy minister and the unpaid leave entitlement for when leaving the office beyond the allocated leave.
He said he had left Malaysia before the second Movement Control Order (MCO 2.0) was announced and that he had attended all Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara sessions.
He also denied an allegation by a news portal that he had gone back and forth between Malaysia and New Zealand, saying he is planning to lodge a police report.
He said the article is damaging his reputation as a deputy minister and an MP.