Stop politicising 101 projects: I just answered the question - Tengku Zafrul

Issues related to 101 projects awarded through direct negotiations during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration should not be politicised.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz explained that as the individual responsible for the national treasury issue, he only answered the question posed by Pontian Member of Parliament, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

According to him, Section 6 (1) of the Financial Procedure Act 1957 allows for direct negotiations, thus there is no reason for the matter to be politicised.

"After I answered the issue (in Parliament), there were many requests from several parties (so that) the list of projects was released.

"So, based on transparency, I decided to release the list and it is based on facts.

“It is not because of who is negotiating, (or) when it is signed. If we look at it, it is the data and facts showing LOA (letter of award) signed during PH (as the government).

"So, that's all I want to say. And this does not need to be politicised. This is just a fact," he told the media after launching the National Penjana Fund at the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) here today.

On Monday, Tengku Zafrul informed the Dewan Rakyat session, records showed that the Ministry of Finance, led by Lim Guan Eng previously, had approved the 101 projects through direct negotiations.

However, he explained, in certain circumstances, the method of procurement through direct negotiations was allowed with the approval of the Ministry of Finance based on certain criteria such as involving the urgent needs of the country.

Following the revelation, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) informed that it will get a list of 101 projects from the Ministry of Finance which were said to be awarded via direct negotiations, during the PH era.

In a counter-statement in Parliament, Guan Eng expressed concern that the agency would practise 'double standard' and become a political weapon for certain parties.

The DAP secretary-general said the MACC needed to be fair and launched a study on all direct negotiation projects during the Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional administrations.