CRONYISM & SHIFTING THE GOAL POSTS? ALL EYES ON ANWAR TO TAKE ACTION ON HANNAH YEOH'S DRT FIASCO
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy) - The heat is on for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to clarify his stance on battling corruption after a state government project was "easily secured" by a firm linked to the husband of his Youth and Sport Minister Hannah Yeoh.
All eyes are on whether Anwar will raise in Parliament the issue of the Selangor state government allegedly granting without open tender the Demand Responsive Transit project to Yeoh's husband.
There are also heated demands for the Prime Minister to order the Selangor state government, which is controlled by his PKR party, to revoke the contract and reopen it for public tender - thus "enabling all capable companies to have a fair opportunity to bid for this DRT project".
"This is similar to Anwar’s call on 28 February 2022 for the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal involving Bank Negara to be debated in Parliament," Saw Yee Fung, the MCA National Youth Secretary General said in a statement sent to PoliticsNow! on Thursday (May 30).
'Back then, the current premier who was still the Opposition leader in Parliament, had demonstrated his detestation against graft and power abuse. Since assuming office as the tenth Prime Minister, he has repeatedly made public statements against corruption, particularly issuing righteous-toned statements against figures like former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin and former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's son-in-law.
"However, when asked by reporters yesterday (28 May 2024), the Prime Minister merely remarked casually “to probe if reports made.” This has led to the public perspective that the Prime Minister holds two standards on anti-graft intentions distinguished by political adversaries or Cabinet Ministers of the unity government."
RM 1 BILLION DRT DEAL - CRUCIAL FOR ANWAR TO TAKE A STAND?
Indeed, the MCA is not the only political party aligned to Anwar's ruling coalition to balk at the deal. Political foes especially from the Opposition have jumped onto the issue. Worse still for Anwar, who depends on populist support, netizens too are fuming and have made their distaste known on social media.
After all, the DRT is a pioneering transit system project said to be worth RM1 billion and was awarded by Selangor, a state controlled by Anwar's PKR party, through direct negotiations instead of an open tender process.
Yeoh, who is also the Segambut MP, has denied impropriety and has been 'cleared' by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on the grounds that she is a federal minister while the deal is awarded by a state government.
Her husband Ramachandran Muniandy is the founder of Asia Mobility Technologies Sdn Bhd, which is one of two companies selected for the Klang Valley project and was also given the green light by the Land Public Transport Agency.
"The Prime Minister's stand is crucial," insisted Saw.
INSULT TO THE PUBLIC?
Like other critics of the deal, Saw is enraged by the remarks from the MACC chief commissioner that the project was not directly awarded by Hannah to her husband and "thus it is not an offence"
"This justification insults the intelligence of ordinary citizens and further accentuates public concerns on government effort to combat malpractices, nepotism and graft. Malaysians hopes that PMX (Anwar) and the MACC will honour their earlier words against cronyism, power abuse and corruption."
Yeoh's political party, the DAP, has also taken a hit for its 'elegant silence' over the deal and accused of hypocrisy as well as double standards.
"They need to exercise concrete actions to ensure that the Malaysia Madani government’s anti-corruption slogan is sincere, one that walks the talk and not one that is mere empty talk," added Saw.
Written by Stan Lee, PoliticsNow!
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