PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli says he will take legal action against influencer Ariz Ramli, known as Caprice, if no apology is issued.
The Pandan MP said this was regarding the allegations linked to a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe involving two national policies introduced during his tenure as Economy Minister.
He said he would present more detailed facts on the matter during the Yang Bakar Menteri (YBM) podcast on Friday (Feb 20).
“After these facts are presented, I will give Caprice the opportunity to share them with his audience and then apologise to me for defamation.
"If he fails to do so after being given the opportunity, I have instructed my lawyers to initiate legal action against him,” he said in a media release on Tuesday (Feb 17).
Rafizi said the MACC had recently begun investigating allegations of misconduct and corruption involving the Silicon Vision programme and the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).
He described the probe as a form of intimidation and reiterated his call for MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki to be suspended immediately.
According to Rafizi, both Silicon Vision and NETR were national policies launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after going through multiple layers of approval, including Cabinet endorsement.
“In fact, the government leadership, especially Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, has used these two policies as proof of economic planning under his administration.
"The NGOs and individuals who lodged reports with the MACC had never shown any interest or concern about them.
“That is, until last week, when I spoke out strongly demanding that Tan Sri Azam Baki be suspended and that an independent investigation be conducted following Bloomberg’s revelations of alleged misconduct within the MACC,” he said.
On the Silicon Vision programme, Rafizi said negotiations with Arm Holdings were conducted in stages, beginning with discussions with the Economy Ministry.
He said it was later elevated to an inter-ministerial committee involving his former ministry, the Finance Ministry and the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).
Rafizi said the discussions also involved then Miti Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, along with other senior officials.
He added that the Economy Ministry only plays a policy-planning role and has no authority over procurement or contract management.
"The collaboration was signed by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) under Miti, with payments processed by Mida and approved by the Finance Ministry.
“The draft agreement was also reviewed and approved by the Attorney-General’s Chambers before receiving Cabinet approval,” he said.
Rafizi said that to date, there was no evidence of misappropriation of public funds, nor any proof that money had been channelled into his personal accounts.
He maintained that commercial decisions by private companies were unrelated to the Economy Ministry or the government, and did not involve public procurement.
He said the allegations against him were dangerous as they implied that Arm Holdings, a semiconductor giant controlling more than 90% of the global device-chip market, had bribed him.
“If this news is reported internationally, Malaysia’s image and its semiconductor industry will receive negative coverage that could harm the country,” he said. - Star
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