The federal government’s alleged "flip-flop" on its foreign workers recruitment policy is nothing new and a sign of a weak leadership, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali claimed today.

Speaking to reporters at the Bukit Lanjan PKR Chinese New Year celebration, the Selangor menteri besar said such inconsistencies were already seen in past policies introduced by the BN government.

“This is the attitude of the federal government. They often introduce policy changes without any research or feedbacks from key industry players,” he said, when asked to comment on the recent controversy surrounding a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Putrajaya and Bangladesh to facilitate the employment of 1.5 million workers.

“It (the flip-flop) clearly shows a weak leadership. There is no clear vision or strength to repair the country’s economy - which is getting worse every day,” he noted.

Putrajaya has been criticised over its flip-flop on the issue after Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had on Friday announced that the intake of all foreign labour will be put on hold with immediate effect, a day after Putrajaya had signed the MOU with Bangladesh.

In response, Bangladeshi Expatriate Ministry acting secretary Begum Shamsunnahar had yesterday reportedly described the government’s announcement as an “eyewash”, and insisted that its citizens will continue their plans to work in Malaysia following the agreement signed.

Separately, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar in a statement today questioned whether the terms of the MOU could be unilaterally revoked, as announced by Zahid.

“The government should disclose a list of all companies and industries that had applied to employ the workers.

“At the same time, the government should also announce the success rate for the 6P amnesty programme that was introduced (in 2011) to reduce the number of illegal foreign workers,” she said.

In reiterating PKR’s call for the national minimum wage to be raised to RM1,500, the Lembah Pantai MP said Zahid must first address all the questions raised before pointing fingers or challenging Malaysian youths to take up jobs in the ‘dangerous, dirty and difficult’ sectors - which are now largely reliant on foreign workers.