Umno leaders have joined the call for the Finance Ministry to make public the 101 direct negotiation projects awarded under the Pakatan Harapan government.
Padang Rengas MP Nazri Aziz said it is only right for the ministry to do this after its minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz raised the matter in Parliament.
"I think it's only proper and right that once this thing is mentioned in Parliament, then we should reveal what the projects are. The public has a right to know.
"To me, yes, the Finance Ministry must reveal the details regardless of the effect it has on anybody whether in the government or outside the government," Nazri told Malaysiakini.
On Monday, Zafrul told Parliament that 101 projects worth RM6.61 billion in total were approved by the Finance Ministry through direct negotiations under the former Harapan administration.
This prompted calls for Zafrul to reveal details on the matter, including from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng.
Lim claimed that the list would expose some of the current Perikatan Nasional leaders, including Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who had pushed for those direct-award contracts in the past.
Meanwhile, Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii also said that revealing the projects would be in the interest of transparency.
"For the sake of transparency and proving that Perikatan Nasional is not conspiring with Harapan's wrongdoings, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin must reveal the list of the 101 projects as well as the title of works awarded," he said when contacted.
Razlan believed that some of the contracts awarded did not meet the necessary criteria for direct negotiations.
Earlier today, Deputy Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Bakri sidestepped a call to reveal the list of 101 projects when asked about it in Parliament.
Instead, Rahim defended direct tenders and said this was only an issue because Harapan had allegedly promised to stop practising the method in giving out project contracts.
It is worth noting that the Harapan manifesto does not actually say it will stop direct tenders.
Instead, it said that it would ensure open tenders were used extensively especially for large projects and that the procurement and tendering system would be reviewed. - Mkini
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