'Marked man' Rafizi steps up to the challenge, throws back indelible ink dare to EC, MACC

VIDEO INSERTED KUALA LUMPUR - Challenged to make his indelible ink expose's outside the Parliament hall, where he would no longer immunity from lawsuits, MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli not only did just but gave additional details that will make it extremely hard for Prime Minister Najib Razak's government, the Election Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to ignore without losing further credibility.

"The fight is not with me, I am doing my job. The fight is for them (the EC or Malay acronym SPR) to clear their name and whatever their answer or reaction, I am sure they can be transparent about it. I am not making any accusations," Rafizi told a press conference at the Parliament lobby on Thursday.

"It is only fair and it's only logical to question on what grounds when 3 companies by one person were awarded three contracts that were not delivered satisfactorily and there are also question marks as to the background of the shareholders unless there is something else and one of the possibilities is the closeness (to top officials in the EC and the government)."

"It is not only the EC's standing at stake but also an opportunity for the MACC (or Malay acronym SPRM) to regain the confidence of the public. The sooner they act when it is already quite clear, and some of the details are out, the better it is."

A marked man

Rafizi has been the target of BN leaders including Prime Minister Najib Razak himself after exposing the RM250mil NFC cattle livestock debacle involving Umno Women's chief Shahrizat Jalil. The Pandan MP's promise to reveal at Parliament the name of the supplier of Malaysia's controversial indelible ink used during May 5 general election had further alarmed and dismayed his rivals.

Nonetheless, the 34-year-old Rafizi proceeded to pose the name of Integrated Challenger Sdn Bhd as the local firm awarded the RM7.1million indelible ink contract through direct negotiations during the first sitting of the august House following the May 5 general election.

Minister in charge of Parliament Shahidan Kassim has not denied or verified if this was true. In fact at a press conference held later on Thursday afternoon, Shahidan had asked if Rafizi had repeated his allegations to reporters at the lobby. When told that Rafizi had done so, Shahidan still refused to confirm when pressed several times if Integrated Challenger was indeed the ink supplier, saying he would hold another press conference later.

Malaysia's recently-concluded 13th general election has been the most controversial and divisive in the country's history, with the EC accused of colluding with Najib's BN coalition to rig votes and pad-up the electoral roll with fictitious or phantom names. The indelible ink was also a sensational feature as most of the 8 million-odd electorate found the ink could be easily washed off within hours although the EC had promised it would stay on for at least 4 days.

Meanwhile, BN lawmakers had demanded that the Speaker of the House referred Rafizi to a committee for disciplinary action on the basis that his allegation was untrue. This despite the absence of any denial from Shahidan. The BN MPs also dared Rafizi to repeat his allegation outside Parliament.

However, the request for disciplinary action was rejected by the Speaker, who instead asked Rafizi to table a motion to discuss the integrity of the top EC officials at the next sitting. The Speaker also repeated the request of the BN lawmakers that if Rafizi was confident of his information, he should repeat his statements outside the House. This way, those parties, if any, maligned by the allegations could sue him.

Dormant firms but granted contracts and through direct negotiations

Rafizi not only complied with the Speaker's direction, he gave further details of the people behind Integrated Challenger and Nash Ventures Sdn Bhd, a related unit believed to have been awarded a contract to supply caps for the election.

Rafizi also identified another firm Allisons Corp Sdn Bhd, which although did not get an EC-related contract, was also linked to Mohamed Salleh Mohamed Alli, the main owner of Integrated Challenger.

Allisons is a firm that obtained procurement contracts from the Ministry of Defense, bolstering Rafizi's earlier claim that Mohamed Salleh and co-director Shamsia Mansoor were active business operators with close rapport to senior decision makers in the government.

"The financial records of the firms have not yet been updated. The last filing with the Companies Commission of Malaysia was in 2009 and yet they were given the chance to get 3 contracts through direct negotiations. Doesn't this indicate that Mohamed Salleh Mohamed Alli has good relations with the EC leadership?"said Rafizi.

Malaysia Chronicle