Over the last few days the social media has been abuzz of how a firm belonging to the husband of a federal minister was awarded a Selangor state government contract.
The minister in concern has distanced herself from the claim and the company involved has defended itself by saying that it is one of the two companies suitable for the job in the country. May be the Selangor state government could not source for a firm outside the country for a cheaper rate (pun intended).
All that is fine. But what about the allegations of cronyism? Netizens are not very kind to the minister in their comments with some asking what happened to the “righteousness” of the Minister which she had portrayed all these while.
When someone is appointed to a position, in this case a Minister, the individual is expected to hold a high level of moral lines. The DAP, where Hannah Yeoh belongs, have always taken the ”holier than thou” approach on this. They have thrown accusations of cronyism to almost everyone in the government of the past starting from former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his sons of such practices.
In this case even the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency was very quick to denounce any act of misappropriation in the whole deal. At one blow the MACC put the matter to rest. Maybe the MACC was right, may-be there were no act against the law but what about a fair open tender process and transparency in awarding government projects. This is what Hannah Yeoh’s party had stood for in the past.
The DAP had harped not only on Tun Mahathir but many others like Tun Rafidah Aziz, and Tans Sri Shadrizat Abdul Jalil in the past. But when a similar situation arose to its leaders, DAP starts defending its leaders.
The company in question is one of two companies appointed by the Pakatan Harapan led Selangor government to provide demand responsive transit (DRT) services in four localities under the Selangor Mobility programme.
The latest fiasco is the latest in the allegations of cronyism against the PH government. The loosely formed coalition is also facing a crisis of a sort in firming up the confidence of the people.
Debacles and missteps such as this should not go unforgiven if the Anwar Ibrahim led PH intends to continue ruling the country. But will the Prime Minister act?
Kandaswami Sivalinggam
Penang
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