MPS TRADE BARBS OVER OPEN TENDER
Opposition attacks Guan Eng over bid to sell Malaysia Building in Hong Kong
PANDEMONIUM broke out during the final hour of yesterday’s Parliament sitting when opposition lawmakers hurled rebuke at Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was winding up the debate on the Supplementary Supply (2018) Bill 2019.
The din in Dewan Rakyat came to a crescendo when Lim clarified the need for open tender, instead of direct negotiations set by the then Barisan Nasional administration, over the sale of the Malaysia Building in Hong Kong.
Lim was adamant that an open tender sale could yield a higher price, and took a jab at Datuk Seri Najib Razak (Barisan Nasional-Pekan) for accusing the Pakatan Harapan government of initiat- ing the property sale.
In defending his position, Lim turned to Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) and labelled him “Pekan’s (Najib) newest defender”, which led to verbal fisticuffs between them.
Their exchange, which included challenges for each other to step down as parliamentarians if they were unable to substantiate their arguments, was interrupted by Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (Pas-Pengkalan Chepa), who questioned Lim if the open tender system would erode opportunities for Bumiputeras in terms of business.
“I have an example (to back up the claims),” Marzuk said while raising his smartphone, amid indiscernible shouts from his opposition colleagues.
A visibly incensed Lim, who is Bagan MP, lashed out at Marzuk and rubbished the claims, and the house was again filled with opposing sides shouting at each other.
“That is wrong! This is what I want to tell Pengkalan Chepa. Previously there were only direct negotiations, where it would require the signature (approval) of (Umno) division chiefs.
“But the open tender is now for all Bumiputera contractors!” Lim said.
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon tried to calm the situation, and reminded opposition MPs to allow Lim to wind up the debate as it was his floor.
Rashid then told Marzuk to sit down, to which the latter uttered: “I am a man ( anak jantan), not a transvestite (pondan) like Bagan (referring to Lim).”
This raised the hackles of government backbenchers, who then raised a point of order to demand Marzuk to retract his statement.
Marzuk refused to do so, and after three warnings by Rashid to withdraw the word pondan, the Pas politician was suspended from the sitting for two days.
Opposition MPs then staged a walkout in protest against Rashid’s ruling.
Later, the bill, which was read the second time was, passed unanimously at the policy stage.
Lim, who tabled the bill, said it was a proposal for an additional RM19.6 billion to supplement the 2018 Budget’s expenditure.
Earlier, during a debate on the same bill, Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin told the house that the government should stop putting the blame squarely on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) concerning the state of the economy.
“The current narrative seems to be that the RM1 trillion debt is because of 1MDB. I agree that the company has weaknesses, but I hope that they can be rectified.
“But it is wrong to say that our coffers are lacking or that there is a need to cut costs due to 1MDB.”