KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Umno’s candidate for the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat, Khairy Jamaluddin, said that assets declaration was only needed for post-election Cabinet appointments.

He said that such a move is unnecessary for politicians contesting the parliamentary election, without elaborating further.

According to a report by The Vibes, Khairy then added that he had declared his assets to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) when he was appointed as the science, technology, and innovation minister back in 2020.

This came after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who became prime minister in March 2020, had ordered all his Cabinet members to declare their assets to MACC within a month, as part of an Aku Janji condition to ensure a high level of integrity.

"I have made my declaration to MACC, and this has been published on its website. The total value of my assets was also included,” said Khairy in the report.

Last week, PKR’s deputy president Rafizi Ramli called all PKR candidates to make available their personal assets and liabilities for public scrutiny.

A check by Malay Mail of the PKR candidate website found that Rafizi’s net worth stands at RM18.85 million.

However, the asset declaration of other leaders such as party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail are still unavailable on the website.

On a side note, Khairy, who is caretaker health minister, said that he will give his best to capture Sungai Buloh for BN in the upcoming elections.

The incumbent Rembau MP was fielded in Sungai Buloh after making way for his mentor and Umno’s deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, also known as Tok Mat, for his first parliamentary election.

Tot Mat claimed Sungai Buloh is a safe seat for Khairy because of the party machinery’s positive response, a large number of Malay voters, and the fact that his political secretary Datuk Megat Firdouz Megat Junid is also the division chief there.

Sungai Buloh is expected to see a three-cornered fight between Khairy, PKR’s Datuk R. Ramanan, and PAS’s Mohd Ghazal Md Hamin.

Nomination day for the 15th general election is tomorrow, with November 19 set as polling day.