SCORPENES ‘BLOW UP’ IN NAJIB’S FACE: ‘SUDDENLY AFTER I RESIGNED, I FOUND OUT HE HAD MADE AN ORDER FOR 2 SUBMARINES’ – DR M MAKES SHOCKING REVELATION NAJIB STRUCK DEAL BEHIND HIS BACK, DID NOT INFORM CABINET

THE Cabinet did not discuss the Scorpene purchase when he was prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today, adding that he would have opposed the deal as Malaysia did not have money for such buys.

He told The Malaysian Insight this was because the submarines were too expensive and not meant to operate in shallow waters, especially in the Straits of Malacca.

“I never wanted to buy the submarines because we couldn’t use them. We can’t use submarines in the Straits of Malacca.

“And, we didn’t have the money. The cost was high.

“But suddenly, after I resigned, I found out that the defence minister had made an order for two submarines.

“The decision was probably made when I was prime minister, but I was not informed of it.”

Dr Mahathir was prime minister from 1981 to 2003. The submarines were purchased in June 2002 when Najib Razak was defence minister.

The Scorpene submarines made the headlines again after it was reported that Abdul Razak Baginda was charged in France over alleged kickbacks in the sale of the submarines to Malaysia.

It was reported that Razak had been Najib’s adviser when the latter was defence minister.

“When he (Najib) was in my Cabinet, he was quite low profile,” Dr Mahathir told The Malaysian Insight.

“He did not commit any offences, as far as I can tell. Even with the Scorpene purchase, I was not informed of that.”

Dr Mahathir, who is now opposition coalition chairman, said as far as he knew, the submarines were never discussed in the Cabinet, adding that there were no Cabinet papers on the purchase of the vessels.

Najib oversaw the deal, worth nearly €1 billion (RM5 billion), to buy two Scorpene-class submarines and one Agosta-class submarine from French naval dockyards unit DCN, which is linked to French defence group Thales.

A French investigation into the deal was launched in 2010 in response to a complaint from human rights civil society group Suaram.

The investigation revealed that another company, Terasasi, whose main shareholder was Razak, had received an equivalent sum for what was billed as consultancy work, but which investigators believe was really a front for kickbacks.

Dr Mahathir said his thinking when he heard about the purchase was, “who are we supposed to fight with?”.

“We don’t have any plan to go to war with Indonesia or Singapore. I’m anti-war.

“I don’t believe we can resolve any conflict through war. Yes, we must have soldiers, but our soldiers are for defence.

“Submarines are not for defence. They’re aggressive.”

The Royal Malaysian Navy commissioned the two submarines – KD Tunku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak – in 2009. The submarines are still in active service.

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT