I’ll praise you if LCS delivered on time, Lim tells Hisham

 

Lim Guan Eng says the public wants answers from ‘real’ ministers, especially on matters such as national security.

PETALING JAYA: DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has hit back at Hishammuddin Hussein for saying that he would never praise him, stating that he would have no problem doing so if the defence minister delivered the littoral combat ships (LCS) on time.

In response to Lim classifying Hishammuddin as among the 10 ministers who had failed Malaysians, Hishammuddin said yesterday that Lim would never describe him as a successful minister, “even until judgment day”.

“Hishammuddin is wrong because I will praise him immediately if he can get the LCS delivered as scheduled,” Lim said in a statement.

“Full accountability for the RM9 billion LCS scandal is more important than either Hishammuddin or my judgment day.”

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The former finance minister said Hishammuddin’s dismissal of his criticisms demonstrated his ignorance of the public’s outrage at RM6.08 billion being spent on the six ships, none of which had been delivered.

Yesterday, Hishammuddin said Lim had repeatedly accused him of being among the worst ministers, but did not justify his claims.

He said that in politics, such statements meant that ministers who were ignored were “not doing their work”.

However, Lim shot back at him today, saying: “By his perverted logic, if I do not talk about other ministers like health minister Khairy Jamaluddin, then Khairy is a failed minister.”

He said the public wanted answers from “real” ministers, especially on matters such as national security.

“Hishammuddin’s irresponsible answers on a serious defence procurement matter gives a negative impression that degrades Malaysia’s defence capabilities internationally,” he said.

The LCS project came under scrutiny from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after it said RM6.08 billion had been spent since 2014 but none of the six ships had been completed or delivered.

The first ship had been slated to be delivered by April 2019.

Hishammuddin was also the defence minister from 2013 until 2018 and was among those who testified before the PAC. - FMT