The PKR vice-president had earlier cited information on LinkedIn when he named one Raslan Dahlan as the brother of Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
KUALA LUMPUR: Barely two hours after Rafizi Ramli went live on Facebook alleging a huge government contract was awarded to a company headed by a sibling of minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan, the Pandan MP was forced to remove his posts after finding out that the Raslan Dahlan he had named was not Rahman’s elder brother.
“I have checked. Raslan is not Rahman’s brother,” Rafizi told FMT, minutes after removing his video which sparked strong comments from Rahman on Twitter.
But the PKR vice-president said it did not mean he was retracting his allegations, even adding that he would speak again live tomorrow with a focus on the nature of the contract.
“We shall continue the live expose tomorrow to focus on the contract awarded without calling for tenders,” he said.
“We feel it’s not fair on the real Raslan.”
In a press conference at the Invoke headquarters here earlier today, Rafizi had claimed the company that landed the contract for the Expo Negaraku 2017 was helmed by Raslan, who he identified as Rahman’s brother.
“I have checked the information, and his brother is the CEO of the company that was awarded the contract for Expo Negaraku 2017.
“There is also proof that the company, which is an event management company, has been organising tourism events in the country. I have checked his (Rahman’s brother’s) LinkedIn account, and he names himself as the CEO of the company,” Rafizi had earlier said.
He added that the contract for the exhibition came under the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), the entity under the Prime Minister’s Department headed by Rahman.
“How much of the people’s money was spent by the government through the EPU and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to organise Expo Negaraku 2017 for one month? He has to face the rakyat and explain why so much money was used for the expo.
“Second, he needs to answer if it’s true that the tender was give to the company led by his brother.”
Expo Negaraku 2017, a month-long exhibition which began on Nov 15, showcases infrastructure projects including the controversial Bandar Malaysia project.
Rahman wasted no time taking to Twitter, calling the Pandan MP “a compulsive serial liar that isn’t afraid of Allah”.
“He confidently said he had done his investigations and had solid proof that Raslan, who was the CEO of Pico Integrated Exhibit Sdn Bhd, is my brother.
“Raslan Dahlan is not my brother. Rafizi has evil intentions. Again Rafizi has invented a huge lie in his mission to slander me, the government and Prime Minister Najib Razak,” said Rahman, adding that he was mulling legal action.
This is not the first time Rafizi, who frequently holds press conferences through Facebook, committed factual errors.
In May, he apologised after naming the wrong person and company in relation to a firm named in the US which reportedly paid a hefty sum on behalf of the Malaysian government to a Washington lobbyist alligned with President Donald Trump.
He said the mistake was due to confusion over the addresses of two companies located in the same area with directors who shared the same name. -FMT
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