The company which is lobbying for a direct tender on an RM854 million military contract is the crony of a deputy minister, claimed PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli.
He said checks on company registration records and investigations showed that those involved in the company are also in business with two of the deputy minister's close family members.
"I will show proof of joint ownership (in other companies) that confirms that (the company) is a crony linked to the deputy minister tomorrow," he said in a statement today.
Malaysiakini has contacted the deputy minister and the company involved for a response. All names are being withheld in the meantime.
The contract in question is in regard to the procurement of self-propelled howitzers (SPH) for the army.
Rafizi on Tuesday revived allegations that the company had lobbied Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for a direct tender - which the latter reportedly agreed to.
This allegedly led to Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz to reject a request from the Defence Ministry for the contract to be awarded via limited tender instead.
Instead, Zafrul is alleged to have ordered for the contract to be awarded via direct tender to the company.
Following this, the Defence Ministry is alleged to have sent a letter of intent to the company asking for it to submit a tender offer by Aug 15.
‘Contract not awarded yet’
Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said yesterday that the tender was still being negotiated with the Finance Ministry and no contract has been awarded yet.
He also stressed that the Armed Forces should decide what they need and that his job as minister was to fulfil their request.
Rafizi took Hishammuddin's response as proof that his allegations were true.
He also believed that the defence minister was aware of the involvement in the company lobbying for the contract.
Hence, he said if Hishammuddin was truly concerned about the nation's defence, he should cancel the letter of intent sent to the company.
Checks by Malaysiakini found that the company entered a partnership with three defence companies from Turkiye.
The howitzers allegedly being proposed for procurement by the company are of Turkish design. - Mkini
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