Why deals like the Scorpenes-Altantuya don't help Malaysia, only Najib

Across the nation, Malaysians are shaking their heads over news that the country under Prime Minister Najib Razak has sunk to a new low on the internationally-followed Corrutpion Perception Index. Even a parliamentary Special Committee on Corruption had recommended that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission be made answerable only to Parliament.

But trust Umno vice president and Defense minister Zahid Hamidi to refuse to provide details and clarification to the Pakatan Rakyat, which has raised countless queries to Parliament over 'suspiciously' high-cost procurements.

"The Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi yesterday dismissed the need for a bi-partisan parliamentary oversight committee over defence expenditure, claiming that he “is confident in the ability and transparency of the evaluation committee of the three branches of the Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM)”," DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Such contemptuous arrogance towards parliamentary oversight over defence expenditure which amounts to tens of billions of ringgit annually has proven Transparency International (TI) right by scoring Malaysia at only 4.5 points out of a maximum of 12, or only 37.5%, well below the failure mark."

Few places left for Najib to hide

Tony was referring to the inaugural “Transparency of Defence Budgets Report” launched on 19 November 2011. The director of the International Defence and Security Program for TI in United Kingdom, Mark Pyman, had said “Malaysia ranked far below other countries (for this), where the budget lacked details and no audits were undertaken of the secret programmes.”

While Zahid's response is shocking, few Malaysians are surprised given that his boss - Prime Minister Najib Razak - has the most to lose if the curtain was lifted on the armed forces' procurement of several large-ticket items including the infamous RM7 billion Scorpene submarines.

Zahid may try his best to curry favor and defend the Scorpenes deal as best as he can. But whether he reveals the details or not, the truth is bound to emerge once the Parisian courts begin open-court hearing of a complaint lodged against French arms maker DCN by Malaysian NGO Suaram on behalf of taxpayers here.

Pyman and his newly set-up unit are bound to follow proceedings closely and glean as much information and details on the mechanism that may have been used by the notorious DCN to funnel kickbacks to Malaysian officials - in this case to Najib himself and his proxies. Najib had been the Defense minister in 2002, authorising the deal, while he has been accused of snaring a 114 million euros or RM570 million commission with the help of his close friend and former adviser Razak Baginda.

18 Sukhoi, 12 Eurocopters and now 257 carriers

Apart from the Scorpenes, Najib was once grilled over the purchase of Eurocopters for RM2.3 billion which the opposition alleged was overpriced and which he excused away by insisting the choppers had been 'customised'. The same kickbacks allegations followed him over his purchase of 18 Sukhoi jet fighters.

And even though Najib has relinquished the defense portfolio to Zahid, it is believed he may be involved in the RM7.55 billion purchase of 257 armoured personnel carried from Feftech Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom Bhd based in Pekan, which is a company controlled by Umno-linked tycoon Syed Mokhtar Syed Bukhari. Pekan is Najib's hometown.

"I had asked for the Minister (Zahid) to explain the gap between the RM7.55 billion paid for 257 armoured personnel carriers to Deftech Sdn Bhd, and what latter will be paying to FNSS Defences Systems, a Turkish defence manufacturer – RM1.7 billion for the same items," said Tony.

"The Minister had acknowledged the above transactions, but had the gall to claim “no knowledge” of the details of the Deftech-FNSS transactions and hence was not able to explain what makes the difference in the 2 contracts. The Minister was also not forthcoming in explaining other sizeable transactions such as the RM6 billion purchase of 6 Second Generation Patrol Vessels as well as the RM2.3 billion acquisition of 12 Eurocopter EC725 helicopters," Tony said.

Complete blind spot for Umno

Given Najib's orders for a clampdown on giving details of the government's arms procurement program, it is not surprising that Zahid had tried all ways and means to avoid giving any direct answers. Instead he resorted to rebuking the opposition for trying to smear Najib and the government.

So far, the answer most often given by the Najib administration to justify the much higher pricing had been that the military equipment were “customised to our specific needs”.

It was ironic that Pyman had stated that it is in the best interests of the government that customisation is kept at a bare minimum as it disproportionately drives costs up. He said that “it doubles the base price before you can say good morning. It’s not value for money, difficult and dangerous”.

"It is most shocking and outrageous that up to now, neither the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak nor theDeputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has responded to the worst international report card for Malaysiain the 32-month Najib premiership," DAP MP for Ipoh Timur Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.

"In fact, not a single UMNO leader or delegate at the UMNO General Assembly breathed a word of concern about corruption in general or TI CPI 2011 in particular – apart from giving “blank cheque” support to Wanita UMNO leader and Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil in her embroilment in the RM300 million “CattleGate Cow Condo” scandal!"

Stop giving implausible excuses

TI ranked Malaysia ranked alongside Afghanistan, Rwanda, Georgia and Azerbaijan in the report, well below other countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The results of the research indicate that approximately 14 per cent of the countries under review in this study scored high and these are primarily developed countries with strong democratic systems in place.

Zahid has said he would testify at the Paris trials on behalf of Najib, if subpoenaed, whereas Najib is expected to cop-out fearing the full-glare of the media circus that is bound to erupt when the Scorpenes-DCN case is heard.

Apart from sordid corruption details, the Paris trial is expected to throw up information on Altantuya Shaaribuu, a Mongolian translator who was murdered in Malaysia in 2006 after she tried to blackmail Razak Baginda for her US$500,000 share of the alleged commisson.

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) has also urged the government to stop to using national security as an excuse for the secrecy that ends up hiding graft involving defence contracts, and consider appointing independent monitors for such deals.

Malaysia Chronicle