Bank Islam Malaysia has defended its recent move to suspend its chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin after he had predicted a narrow win for Pakatan Rakyat in the upcoming general election. However, a bank source said predictions on the elections are personal opinions that don't in anyway affect financial institutions like Bank Islam. Nevertheless, the bank discovered evidence of violations of the bank's internal policies that were so serious that warranted the bank to lodge a report with the commercial crime division of the police. Further internal investigations by the bank also revealed that Azrul had sent out series of emails relating to the bank's official documents from his office to third parties, including confidential minutes of the bank's board meeting. Azrul is due to appear before the bank's disciplinary board in March.
Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin, Bank Islam’s recently suspended chief economist, is a member of the party PKR. However, PKR vice-president Mohd Azmin Ali said that Azrul’s party membership was irrelevant to his recent prediction that Pakatan Rakyat would win the 13th general election and that the analysis he gave is a professional opinion based on strong figures. However, Bank Islam released a statement yesterday saying the suspension was unrelated to Azrul’s personal political views.