VIDEO: 3.27 mins
If a government project is awarded to someone qualified, and he happens to be Umno member, is that a sin?
This was the question raised by Malay rights NGO Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali in response to PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli's(below) exposes on Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campus concessions.
The answer, Ibrahim said, is no.
"In principle, every Malaysian regardless of party has the right to do business. Even members of parliament and state assembly.
"If a contract is given to a certain individual and it so happens that the bumiputera is an umno member, it is a sin. That is what Rafizi is bombarding (about) now," he said at a press conference.
He said that in Perkasa's mind, it does not even matter if the recipient is the prime minister's son as long as "it is transparent, competitive and fulfills all criteria".
"If everything was fulfilled so what's wrong (with) that? I am also against cronyism and nepotism...but I don't want to be carried away," he said in a press conference.
He also said that it is not fair to insinuate that there are elements of corruption simply because an Umno member gets the deal.
"So Umno people cannot be in business?" he asked.
DPM: Rafizi doesn't understand PFI
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is not surprised that Rafizi is continuing his allegations of cronyism against UiTM, since Rafizi does not understand the deal.
As such, Muhyiddin said, the cabinet has asked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar to explain the issue in a few days, in his capacity as the minister responsible for the Economic Planning Unit.
"The cabinet has decided yesterday. Although UiTM issued an explanatory statement, perhaps there are still things that Rafizi still doesn't understand on the private finance initiative (PFI) concept.
"We have done many projects under PFI. It may seem too expensive, but there is basis for the model used," Muhyiddin told a press conference today.
In a series of press conferences, Rafizi claimed that the government has handed the construction of UiTM’s six new campuses to a number inexperienced companies that he claimed are linked to Umno leaders, through direct negotiations.
He said this caused the costs of the new campuses to balloon from RM1.8 billion to RM8.6 billion.
However, UiTM has countered that the deals under the PFI scheme offer good value for money, as they include a stringent valuation process.
Unamused, Rafizi said UiTM did not address his allegations of cronyism, and said UiTM’s implementation of PFI was flawedbecause the projects were directly tendered to inexperienced companies, instead of being open tendered.
‘It’s performance that matters’
On another matter, Muhyiddin acknowledged the Malaysia’s cabinet is large, but said that was the performance of its members that mattered.
“It is big. Even the prime minister admits this. But the important thing is whether it preforms... Therefore, ministers who have been appointed need to prove their effectiveness.
“We have key performance indices (KPI) for all these, so when we have KPIs, it would measure our ability in performing our duties for the party and for the government,” he said.
Muhyiddin also echoed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s statement yesterday that the larger cabinet is unavoidable.
Yesterday, Najib appointed three new ministers and four new deputy ministers from MCA and Gerakan into the cabinet, bringing the total to 35 ministers and 27 deputy ministers.
Their combined remuneration totals RM6.3 million a year, according to Malaysiakini’s analysis, excluding allowances and their monthly stipends as MPs and senators.
If a government project is awarded to someone qualified, and he happens to be Umno member, is that a sin?
This was the question raised by Malay rights NGO Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali in response to PKR's Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli's(below) exposes on Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campus concessions.
The answer, Ibrahim said, is no."In principle, every Malaysian regardless of party has the right to do business. Even members of parliament and state assembly.
"If a contract is given to a certain individual and it so happens that the bumiputera is an umno member, it is a sin. That is what Rafizi is bombarding (about) now," he said at a press conference.
He said that in Perkasa's mind, it does not even matter if the recipient is the prime minister's son as long as "it is transparent, competitive and fulfills all criteria".
"If everything was fulfilled so what's wrong (with) that? I am also against cronyism and nepotism...but I don't want to be carried away," he said in a press conference.
He also said that it is not fair to insinuate that there are elements of corruption simply because an Umno member gets the deal.
"So Umno people cannot be in business?" he asked.
DPM: Rafizi doesn't understand PFI
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is not surprised that Rafizi is continuing his allegations of cronyism against UiTM, since Rafizi does not understand the deal.
As such, Muhyiddin said, the cabinet has asked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar to explain the issue in a few days, in his capacity as the minister responsible for the Economic Planning Unit.
"The cabinet has decided yesterday. Although UiTM issued an explanatory statement, perhaps there are still things that Rafizi still doesn't understand on the private finance initiative (PFI) concept."We have done many projects under PFI. It may seem too expensive, but there is basis for the model used," Muhyiddin told a press conference today.
In a series of press conferences, Rafizi claimed that the government has handed the construction of UiTM’s six new campuses to a number inexperienced companies that he claimed are linked to Umno leaders, through direct negotiations.
He said this caused the costs of the new campuses to balloon from RM1.8 billion to RM8.6 billion.
However, UiTM has countered that the deals under the PFI scheme offer good value for money, as they include a stringent valuation process.
Unamused, Rafizi said UiTM did not address his allegations of cronyism, and said UiTM’s implementation of PFI was flawedbecause the projects were directly tendered to inexperienced companies, instead of being open tendered.
‘It’s performance that matters’
On another matter, Muhyiddin acknowledged the Malaysia’s cabinet is large, but said that was the performance of its members that mattered.
“It is big. Even the prime minister admits this. But the important thing is whether it preforms... Therefore, ministers who have been appointed need to prove their effectiveness.
“We have key performance indices (KPI) for all these, so when we have KPIs, it would measure our ability in performing our duties for the party and for the government,” he said.Muhyiddin also echoed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s statement yesterday that the larger cabinet is unavoidable.
Yesterday, Najib appointed three new ministers and four new deputy ministers from MCA and Gerakan into the cabinet, bringing the total to 35 ministers and 27 deputy ministers.
Their combined remuneration totals RM6.3 million a year, according to Malaysiakini’s analysis, excluding allowances and their monthly stipends as MPs and senators.
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