Mohamad denies claim of his involvement in LCS scandal

 

Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan denied claims that he was involved in the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) as claimed by some and labelled it as an attempt to tarnish his character.

Mohamad said such accusations were baseless because the decision to buy the LCS was made before he was appointed the defence minister.

"During the process of procurement, I was not even in Parliament.

"I was only appointed as the defence minister 11 months ago, so such accusations or claims a character assassination. He is out to tarnish my career," he said, speaking at a unity programme in Dataran Senawang, Seremban, last night.

A video clip on a Youtube page that belonged to Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin had accused Mohamad as the individual involved in the LCS scandal.

The procurement of six LCS vessels by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd became a major scandal after it was found that despite signing the contract ten years ago, (Oct 3, 2013, to Oct 2, 2023), only 53.29 percent was completed as of May 31, 2019.

The BN deputy chairperson also denied another accusation that he would be sacked as defence minister because he was not aligned with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim since he was not seen with the prime minister during recent election campaigns.

"Do you know that the defence ministry received the highest special allocation from the prime minister?

"I appealed for RM200 million, and it was approved to repair and upgrade homes of Armed Forces personnel.

"For those not receiving pension were also given a special monthly allowance (for those 60 years and above), and that involves about 50,000 personnel who do not receive a pension," he said.

Mohamad also stated that he had appealed for fighter jets, warships, and radar, which were all approved, but some claimed that he was going to be sacked.

"I was down with a fever for four days and could not attend campaigns. However, some makeup baseless stories," he said.

The candidate for Rantau urged voters to ignore such baseless claims.

There are also claims that the federal government would collapse if the results of the six state elections did not favour the unity government.

Such claims are baseless because whatever the outcome of the six state elections on Saturday (Aug 12), it will not affect the federal government.

"...because the federal government was formed with a 2/3 majority and it is not under any threat. There will be no party hopping because the anti-hopping law has been passed and enforced,” he said.

- Bernama