The appointment of Nurul Izzah as a senior adviser on economics and finance has attracted scrutiny from Malaysians on social media.

It has stirred a debate on whether or not it should be considered nepotism, in a country with a long history of politicians abusing their positions to benefit those close to them.

On Twitter, many argued that Nurul Izzah’s appointment is a sign of nepotism, as the finance minister and the prime minister is Anwar Ibrahim, father to the former Permatang Pauh MP.

Nepotism is the practice among those with power or influence of favouring...