Ahmad Idham, Eizlan upset over contract termination, but respect Minister's decision

SHAH ALAM - Actors Dr Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nazri and Datuk Seri Eizlan Yusof have lamented the fact that there was no reason behind the termination of their contracts with the Foreign Ministry, recently.

The duo had in a virtual press conference today confirmed that they had received the termination letters dated Feb 23.

They also reiterated that there was no reason behind the dismissal.

The filmmakers however said they respected the ministry’s decision to end their contracts.

“Although it was fully within their rights to terminate our contracts, I am upset that there was no proper procedure on the dismissal,” Ahmad Idham said.

He also told reporters that he received the termination letter on Monday (Feb 28) when he had just completed his quarantine period after being tested positive for Covid-19.

The letter, he said, came with no prior warnings or meetings to discuss on whether they had done anything wrong.

Ahmad Idham also said if they had done anything wrong, they should have been informed about it and made aware of the matter before being completely dismissed.

The duo also refused to comment on the possibility that abuse of power had taken place in the the office or whether their personal political aspirations were the reasons for their 24-hour dismissal.

“These sources that made these allegations, might want to jeopardise either his or our reputation.

"We were not being paid to do this, we are here to be of service to the nation.

“I was too busy focusing on bridging the gap between the Malaysian arts scene and embassies abroad rather than to be involved in politics,” Ahmad Idham said adding that he has nothing but utmost respect for Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

Both of them also refused to comment on the dismissal of Saifuddin's private secretary Datuk Fizal Fauzi saying that it was not their place to talk about it.

Yesterday, Sinar Daily reported that the contracts of the two actors’ and that of Fizal's with the Foreign Ministry had been terminated.

Prior to the appointment, Ahmad Idham was the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) chief executive officer.

He resigned from the position to join Saifuddin at the ministry.

A source close to the ministry said the two celebrities were hoping to get seat allocations to contest for the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15) under Bersatu’s ticket.

He said they had high political aspirations and were hoping to be endorsed by Saifuddin, who is also Perikatan Nasional Pahang chairman.

This, he said, was not welcomed by party members as they did not carry much weight in politics and had no grassroots.