KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah has come under fire for the fiasco involving the recall of the Malaysian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the consul-general in Dubai.

       Former foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin both said Saifuddin should take full responsibility for the failure to accord full protocol to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on his arrival in Dubai on March 29.

       Anifah said Saifuddin could have handled the situation better and should have held an internal investigation before ordering the recall of Malaysia’s top two diplomats in the UAE.

       “I personally would have handled the situation differently and would have urged that an internal investigation be done first.

       “Even though Wisma Putra has issued a statement stating that such a recall was nothing out of the ordinary due to the diplomats’ failure to coordinate administrative and logistic matters during the Prime Minister’s visit, they should not have recalled the diplomats in haste.

       “I have my doubts about such senior and experienced diplomats overlooking important details, especially when it involves our Prime Minister,” said Anifah, who served as foreign minister from 2008 to 2018.

       He added that prior to an official visit by the Prime Minister to a foreign country, thorough preparations involving the Foreign Minister would have to be made.

       He said the Foreign Minister should arrive before the Prime Minister to ensure that the necessary preparations were made onsite.

       “The Foreign Minister must be there before the PM’s arrival as it is part of his job and if he failed to be there, he should not have agreed to or ordered the recall of the two diplomats.

       “This is a major embarrassment for our country, and a minister is always responsible for any shortcomings of the ministry,” Anifah said in a statement yesterday.

       For his part, Khaled said Saifuddin should take full responsibility over the lack of coordination during Ismail Sabri’s visit to Dubai, adding that what happened to the Prime Minister was regrettable.

       “Blaming everything on our diplomats is very unprofessional.

       “The Foreign Minister should take responsibility for everything that happens. He forgets that he is the one leading Wisma Putra,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.

       Khaled said the Prime Minister in his inaugural visit to the Middle Eastern country did not deserve to go through the embarrassing experience.

       “Wisma Putra failed to ensure that he was given the honour in accordance with his position.

       “The UAE itself is a very welcoming country and of course, if we used all the resources and strengths of our friendship and network with them, such an incident would not have happened,” he added.

       On Monday, Wisma Putra said the two Malaysian diplomats were ordered to return from the UAE as they had failed to coordinate administrative and logistic issues during the Prime Minister’s arrival in Dubai, adding that they failed to handle tasks as per the SOP for high-ranking visits.

       It said the failure resulted in the Prime Minister having to wait for a long time at the arrival hall for passport and Immigration clearance, and there was no security coverage and motorcade for the Prime Minister during his visit.