Kit Siang: Have RCI into direct negotiation contracts
“The Pakatan Harapan government was only responsible for a fraction (0.07%) of the directly awarded contracts during its 22 months in power, which were mostly due to reasons that could not be avoided“
(The Sun Daily) – DAP veteran and Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang (pix) has called on Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to have a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the alleged direct negotiation contracts awarded by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
He urged Tengku Zafrul to look into all direct negotiation contracts from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional governments over the last 10 years.
“Malaysians have to thank the Finance Minister, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, for highlighting the issue of direct negotiation contracts although his intention was not so noble as it was primarily a mean political power play in Parliament aimed at Pakatan Harapan to suggest that it was lacking in integrity in the conduct of financial affairs,“ Lim said in a statement today.
“But Tengku Zafrul’s ham-fisted strategy has returned to bite him and the Perikatan Nasional government and scoring his own goal as his list of 101 projects given through direct negotiations worth RM6.61 billion had become the most powerful testimony that the 22-month Pakatan Harapan government, whatever its mistakes or shortcomings, was better than both the previous Barisan Nasional government and the present Perikatan Nasional government,“ he added.
He also said if Tengku Zafrul is sincere, honest and upright, he would have praised the Pakatan Harapan government for saving the country RM790 million in Phase 2 of the Klang Valley double-tracking project.
“Can Tengku Zafrul give a single instance where the Perikatan Nasional government and the Finance Ministry under him had saved the country RM790 million in reviewing the contracts signed by the Pakatan Harapan government?” he asked
Furthermore, Lim said, instead of casting aspersions on the lack of integrity of the PH government in managing the financial affairs of the country, Tengku Zafrul should be praising PH.
“Is Tengku Zafrul prepared to release the list of contracts awarded by direct negotiations which he had approved in the past six months since the formation of the Perikatan Harapan government to show that there is nothing to hide?”
“The Pakatan Harapan government was only responsible for a fraction (0.07%) of the directly awarded contracts during its 22 months in power, which were mostly due to reasons that could not be avoided,“ he said
He also said former Minister for International Trade and Industry (Miti), Darell Leiking and his former deputy, Ong Kian Ming, have pointed out in their joint statement that four projects, which cost RM8.18 million or 79% of the RM10.4 million of the direct negotiations projects attributed to Miti, took place under the BN government in the three months before GE14.
These were Young CEO Summit 2018, Himpunan Usahawan Bumiputera, Jom Niaga Wilayah Utara and MINI SDSI (Satu Daerah Satu Industri).
“Is Tengku Zafrul prepared to admit publicly that he had been misinformed?” Lim asked.
He added that four key Bersatu figures were involved in government contracts that were awarded without open tender when they were part of PH, namely Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Miti Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin and Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun.
