Pakatan MPs to meet Zahid tomorrow over arms buys

By Yow Hong Chieh

January 18, 2012

Zahid Hamidi, meeting Pakatan MPs tomorrow over defence purchases.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs will meet with Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi tomorrow to seek clarification on Malaysia’s defence buys and to lobby for a parliamentary oversight committee on the country’s arms deals. 

 

The meeting between DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua, PAS central working committee member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and the defence minister tomorrow at 3.00pm.

Pua said in a statement today the three PR lawmakers intend to raise the issue of the six littoral combat ships (LCS) and 257 armoured personnel carriers (APC), which the ministry procured for a total of RM16.6 billion.

Pua had previously urged the minister to explain how the price tag for the LCS jumped to RM9 billion from RM6 billion and why the Turkish-made APCs were purchased from Deftech Sdn Bhd for RM29.4 million each when they had been bought for only RM6.7 million apiece.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP has alleged that the cost of the separate purchases was greatly inflated, and urged Zahid to be more transparent about the deals, which were conducted without open tender.

Pua also reiterated today his call for Putrajaya to set up a parliamentary oversight committee on defence procurement modelled after the US House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations and the US Defense Budget Appropriation Committees to review future defence deals.

“The set up of the parliamentary oversight committee on defence procurement will lead to greater accountability and transparency to ensure that the people’s wealth will not be frittered away, especially in the light of the warning by Datuk Seri Idris Jala that Malaysia might be bankrupt by 2019 if government expenditure is not curtailed,” he said.