HAS Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein given up on the idea of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the RM9 bil littoral combatant ship (LCS) scandal altogether?
Such idea is perturbing veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang as Hishammuddin has promised the Dewan Negara on Aug 16 that he would present the suggestion of a RCI into the LCS scandal at the next day’s Cabinet meeting.
After the Cabinet meeting on Aug 17, Hishammuddin said that he had fulfilled his promise to bring the suggestion of a RCI into the LCI issue to the Cabinet, but that more discussions and time were needed for a decision to be made.
On the expected time frame for the Cabinet to decide, Hishammuddin noted that the Agong was abroad at that moment in time, hence the matter would be discussed at another cabinet meeting.
“However, about a month has lapsed and yesterday’s (Sept 14) Cabinet meeting would be the third last Cabinet meeting before Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Oct 3 and I reminded him about the RCI for the LCS scandal,” asserted the MP for Iskandar Puteri.
“I have (also) given Hishammuddin 20 reasons why it is in the public interest to have a RCI into the LCS scandal.”
According to Kit Siang, the onus of the LCS scandal fall mostly on three former Defence Ministers who served between 2007 and 2018.
“I am convinced that the two earlier former Defence Ministers, namely (Datuk Seri) Najib Razak who became PM and finance minister from 2009 to 2018, and (Datuk Seri Ahmad) Zahid Hamidi who was the defence minister from 2009-2013, must bear the brunt of the responsibility for the LCS scandal,” reiterated the DAP supremo.
“Has Hishamumuddin, who became Defence Minister from 2013-2018 anything to hide that he does not want a RCI into the LCS scandal to reveal?”
In challenging Hishammuddin to realise the idea of RCI, Kit Siang reminded the former that should his father and the third Malaysian PM Tun Hussein Onn had been alive today, he would have no hesitation about a RCI into the RM9 bil LCS scandal.
“Tun Hussein presented a White Paper in Parliament in 1979 on the RM65 mil Bank Rakyat scandal. The LCS scandal is 140 times that of the 1977 Bank Rakyat scandal and will be more, if eventually the procurement of the six LCS ended up with a bigger budget,” reminisced Kit Siang. “Is Hishammuddin any different from his father?”
Elaborating on why the RCI is imminent, Kit Siang said the partial forensic audit into the LCS project had three problems, namely (i) being confined to 2011-2014; (ii) denied access to all records of LCS programme; and (iii) blocked from access to the records of Contraves Advanced Devices Sdn Bhd (CAD) and Contraves Electrodynamics Sdn Bhd (CED) which played very important roles in the LCS project. – Sept 15, 2022
