KUALA LUMPUR: The appointment of seasoned civil servant Datuk Seri Paduka Maimunah Mohd Sharif as Kuala Lumpur mayor might be a strategy to 'clean up' the local government, says former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.
On his podcast, Keluar Sekejap, Khairy applauded Maimunah's decorated service record, both domestically, as former Penang Island City Council mayor and Seberang Perai Municipal Council Yang di-Pertua, and internationally, as United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) executive director.
"In fact, we are not celebrating her enough. Among many international agencies, UN-Habitat is a leading organisation," Khairy said.
This extensive experience, he said, may be required to penetrate the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), which has a reputation for officers that have built their own "fiefdom".
"If we get a mayor that is not brave enough to confront officers, especially on abuse of power, corruption, or governance problems, then that mayor will be ineffective.
"But I see that this appointment by (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim), choosing someone from outside DBKL's ecosystem, that has long experience and can clearly stand her ground, maybe it is to clean up the city council, if it needs to be cleaned up," Khairy speculated.
On Aug 14, Maimunah was appointed as Kuala Lumpur mayor, the first woman to shoulder the august responsibility, replacing previous mayor Datuk Seri Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh.