PUTRAJAYA: Cabinet ministers have been temporarily barred from leaving the country except for scheduled official trips.
During the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday (Sept 10), Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the directive was to ensure all ministers remained available in preparation for the upcoming Budget 2026, Asean Summit and other government programmes.
Government spokesman and Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil said this to the media at a post-Cabinet briefing today.
"All overseas trips by ministers to foreign countries are stopped with immediate effect except for official meetings which have been scheduled in advance.
“This is to ensure the ministers focus and prioritise on the preparation of the Budget 2026 due to be presented on Oct 10 and the upcoming Asean Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur next month. There are also various programmes which will be held which the Cabinet ministers would have to be around for," said Fahmi.
He also said that the Cabinet agreed to the full separation of the roles of the Attorney General and Prosecutor General after studying the final report by the Special Task Force on Comparative Study and a presentation of the various models of separation of roles.
On the anti-bully campaign by the government, Fahmi said that the Cabinet has agreed to begin the roadshow tomorrow in Putrajaya led by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, who will chair the roadshow committee.
"This roadshow to all parts of the country intends to gain feedback from the public on the proposal of setting up an Anti-Bully Tribunal.
"Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and I will also attend the anti-bully roadshow, which will begin in Putrajaya on Sept 11, Negri Sembilan on Sept 17, Selangor on Sept 18 and Melaka (Sept 22)," said Fahmi, who said that teachers and parent-teacher associations would be involved too.
He also said that the roadshow is open to the public.
