Open Letter to PM and Cabinet

Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet

YAB Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Cabinet Ministers, Putrajaya.

YAB/YB,

Firstly, let me start by congratulating Datuk Seri Najib Razak for his appointment as Prime Minister and all the Ministers of the first Najib Cabinet.

The Najib Cabinet saw the removal of seven Ministers in the old Abdullah Cabinet, namely Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar (Home); Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (Tourism), Senator Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib (Rural and Regional Development), Senator Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz (Prime Minister’s Department), Datuk Ong Ka Chuan (Housing and Local Government), Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed (Works) and Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique (Federal Territories).

No one shed any tears for the dropping of the seven Ministers in the Abdullah Cabinet.

However, Malaysians are outraged at the new set of Ministers in the Najib Cabinet, for they are not only another set of “old faces” but include 11 new Ministers or Deputy Ministers who entered Parliament from the backdoor of the Senate.

Worse still, they include “political rejects” like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin who were trounced by the electorate in last year’s political tsunami in the March 8 general elections, making the Najib Cabinet even more unrepresentative and unpopular than the second and last Abdullah Cabinet.

As a result, no new Cabinet in the nation’s 52-year history could have got off with a worse start than the present one.


On 25th March 2008, I had sent an urgent fax to the Prime Minister on the eight matters which the second Abdullah Cabinet should focus on at its first meeting the next day to show that it was capable of responding to the March 8 political tsunami and be on top of the changes demanded by Malaysians.

These eight issues concern the immediate and unconditional release of the five Hindraf leaders, restoration of national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary; comprehensive parliamentary reforms and modernisation; an all-out drive to eradicate corruption; leadership by example on integrity by Ministers and Deputy Ministers; the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC); public inquiry into the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal and an all-party inquiry to enhance Malaysia’s international competitiveness to enable the country to successfully face the challenges of globalization.


If the second and last Abdullah Cabinet is to be evaluated on its success based on the key performance indicators (KPIs) on the eight issues I had outlined, the assessment must be one of dismal failure.

The new Najib Cabinet cannot disclaim responsibility for the dismal failure of the old Abdullah Cabinet to carry out meaningful reforms, as 25 of the 29 Ministers in the Najib Cabinet or a walloping 86.3 per cent were in the old Abdullah Cabinet, with two as Deputy Ministers!

I am taking this opportunity on the eve of the first working meeting of the Najib Cabinet tomorrow to ask the new (actually mostly old) Ministers to focus on eight issues:

1. Convene emergency meeting of Parliament before end of April to secure a motion of confidence from the majority of Members of Parliament, not only for the most unpopular and unrepresentative Cabinet in the nation’s history but also in view of the national and international crisis of confidence over Datuk Seri Najib’s credibility, integrity and legitimacy as Prime Minister.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi secured a motion of confidence in Parliament in his first week as the fifth Prime Minister in November 2003 while Datuk Hussein Onn convened an emergency meeting of Parliament to secure a motion of confidence in his first fortnight in office as third Prime Minister, when succeeding Tun Razak in January 1976 when Tun Razak died of leukaemia in London.

2 Spell out clearly whether the new Najib motto of “1Malaysia” is just a camouflage for “Ketuanan Melayu”, itself a camouflage for “Ketuanan Umnoputras” – which was quite explicit in the Mingguan Malaysia interview of Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

The MCA response that Muhyiddin’s interview is contrary to Najib’s “1Malaysia” lacks credibility, especially with Muhyiddin’s pledge yesterday to help Najib achieve his vision of 1Malaysia.

The least the Najib Cabinet should do tomorrow is to repudiate Muhyiddin’s retrogressive and racist views in his Mingguan Malaysia as not representing the 1Malaysia objective, that 1Malaysia is not equivalent to the “Ketuanan Melayu” concept, and the whole Cabinet should apologise for Muhyiddin’s interview if Muhyiddin is not prepared to make a personal apology over it.

3. Declare corruption as Public Enemy No. 1 and ask all Ministers who are not prepared to support an all-out war against corruption to resign.

The big difference between the first 11 days of the first Abdullah premiership with that of Najib is that Abdullah had already repeatedly declared a war against corruption, while Najib had not even mentioned “corruption” once in the past 11 days.

In his maiden speech on his fourth day as Prime Minister, made in Parliament on November 3, 2003, Abdullah pledged to lead a government that was “clean, incorruptible, modest and beyond suspicion” – none of these four qualities had even been mentioned by Najib in his 11 days as Prime Minister!

It is sad public knowledge that the Abdullah premiership failed to “walk the talk” and chalked up an abysmal failure in anti-corruption efforts, as reflected in the plunge of Malaysia’s Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 47 in 2008.

But this failure cannot be blamed on one person, Abdullah, but must be shared by the new Najib Cabinet as over 86 per cent of the Najib Cabinet were in the previous Abdullah Cabinet.

4. Give top priority to the economic crisis.

The Najib Cabinet should focus on rallying and uniting all Malaysians to face the worst global economic crisis and stop playing political games which only divide the people and undermine Malaysia’s resilience and capability to recover from the economic crisis in the shortest possible time. This is why the two economic stimulus packages of RM7 billion and RM60 billion respectively had failed to make any significant impact to address the economic crisis because their conception and implementation were driven by politics rather than economics.

5. End the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

The worst example of the Najib premiership playing divisive politics when the country is facing a deepening economic crisis following the global financial meltdown is the undemocratic, unethical, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak. The Cabinet should heed the clear messages in the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-elections on April 7 and end the two-month political and constitutional stalemate by returning the mandate to the Perak voters. Dissolve the Perak State Assembly and hold Perak state general election so that the people of Perak and Malaysia can unite to “fight economics” instead of “fight politics”.

6. Police must get back to their first job to ensure personal safety of citizens, visitors and investors and check spiralling crime.

The latest case of a Singaporean, Kalaiarasan Thorasamy, 42, butcher, who was killed on his way to visit his nephew in Johore on Sunday night when he was set upon by a gang of parang-wielding men, together with a spate of horrible crimes in Johore Bahru in the past few days, have again accented the notoriety of Johore Bahru as the crime capital in the country – and the failure of the police to carry out its most basic responsibility to reduce crime and to make Malaysians, visitors and investors safe in the country.

It was to ensure that Malaysia has an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service which could keep crime low and uphold human rights that the Royal Police Commission announced by Abdullah in his First 100 Days recommended the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

One of the biggest failures of the Abdullah premiership is its inability to implement the IPCMC proposal.

The Najib Cabinet cannot send a clearer message that it is serious about implementing the Royal Police Commission proposals for an world-class police service, to keep crime low and end police abuses like the Kugan death in police custody, than to announce that it is committed to the establishment of IPCMC.

7. Repeal ISA and all draconian and undemocratic laws. To demonstrate that Najib is sincere and serious about a “comprehensive review of the Internal Security Act”, the Cabinet tomorrow should make a three-point commitment, viz:

that the government would not resort to the ISA detention-without-trial law pending the review and announce the suspension of the detention-without-trial provisions of ISA for two years;
that the ISA review, which include the repeal, is part of a comprehensive review of undemocratic, repressive and draconian laws including the Police Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act, etc.
that the “comprehensive review” would be conducted by an independent and credible Royal Commission comprising members respected by Malaysians for their human rights record and work.

8. First-World Parliament
- full commitment to comprehensive parliamentary reform and modernization including an Opposition MP to head the Public Accounts Committee, ministerial status for Parliamentary Opposition Leader, a full Select Committee system headed by Parliamentarians where every Ministry is shadowed by a Select Committee and the allocation of Opposition Days in Parliament where the parliamentary business is decided by the Opposition.

RM2.3 billion Eurocopter deal - as presented in Parlimen

RM2.3 billion Eurocopter deal – why no proper short-listing and a bidder which is higher by RM1.256 billion chosen

The following speech by YB Lim Kit Siang was extracted from DAP website:-

Speech (3) by Lim Kit Siang on the 2009 Budget in Parliament on Tuesday, 14th October 2008:



The first thing Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did as Defence Minister was to announce on 26th September that the Defence Ministry has agreed to acquire new helicopters from European helicopter manufacturer, the Eurocopter, to replace the Nuri.

This RM2 billion deal lacks accountability and integrity.

Four helicopters had been “short-listed” by the Ministry of Defence to replace the fleet of Sikorsky S61-A4 Sea Kings better known as the Nuri.

The four are the Eurocopter Cougar EC725, Sikorsky S92, Agusta Westland EH-101 Merlin and the Russian-made Mil Mi-17 Hip.

However, Abdullah shocked everyone with his announcement as the “short-listing” had not been completed and the pricing of the EC725 is not competitive compared with the other helicopters.

The pricing offered by the “short-listed” helicopters are:

Eurocopter Cougar EC 725 - Euro 463.44 juta (RM2.317 billion);
Sikorsky - US$427.20 juta (RM1.45 billion)
Canadian Kelowna Flightcraft Ltd. Model Kazan MI-172 buatan Russia
- US$312 juta (RM1.061 billion)

This means that there is a difference of RM1.256 billion between Eurocopter Cougar EC 725 with the lowest bidder, the Kazan MI-172 KF – in other words, with US$600 million the Royal Malaysian Air Force can buy 26 units of Kazan helicopters and not just 12 Cougar helicopters.

In his speech yesterday, the Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim referred to the complaint by the Chairman of Mentari Services Sdn. Bhd. Kapt (B) Dato’ Zahar Hashim about the irregularity of the Eurocopter decision, and this is not just confined to the Kelowna Flightcraft Limited, Canada which submitted the bid for the Russian helicopter but also the other “short-listed” bidders as well, viz:

• Proses penilaian belum selesai tetapi dengan secara tiba-tiba arahan diberi oleh pihak tertentu supaya Letter of Intent (LOI) dikeluarkan kepada Eurocopter. LOI tersebut ditandatangan oleh seorang pegawai paras menengah di Kementerian Pertahanan dan bertarikh 15th September 2008 iaitu dua hari sebelum Datuk Seri Najib Razak berpindah dari Kementerian Pertahanan ke Kementerian Kewangan.

• Kerja yang sudah selesai adalah penelitian dokumen-dokumen tender yang dikemukakan oleh penender-penender. Penilaian fizikal iaitu memeriksa permis dan kilang penender-penender dan melakukan penerbangan ujian (test flights) belum dilakukan oleh kerana kebenaran dari pihak atasan di Kementerian Pertahanan dan Kementerian Kewangan untuk berbuat demikian belum diperolehi. Sewajarnya, penilaian fizikal adalah lebih mustahak dari penilaian dokumen-dokumen (documentary evaluation) dan anggota-anggota yang terlibat berasa hairan apabila mengetahui bahawa LOI telah dikeluarkan sebelum penilaian fizikal dilakukan.

• Proses pengeluaran LOI kepada Eurocopter agak luar biasa dan bertentangan dengan prosedur yang telah diamalkan selama ini. Biasanya LOI dikeluarkan setelah proses penilaian secara menyeluruh selesai dan sebuah jawatankuasa yang dianggotai oleh wakil-wakil dari Kementerian Kewangan dan Kementerian Pertahanan capai kata sepakat tentang produk yang terbaik bersesuaian dengan belanjawan yang telah diperuntukkan. Mereka turut berpendapat bahawa adalah menakjubkan bahawa LOI bagi kontrak yang bernilai melebihi Dua Bilion Ringgit ditandatangan oleh seorang pegawai Kerajaan bertaraf Setiausaha Bahagian dan bukan seorang yang bertaraf sekurang-kurangnya Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha.

The following are therefore the issues and questions:-

• Technical evaluation process did not follow standard international practice and was not transparent.

• Short-listing of the aircraft not as normally practiced in such tender process.

• What is the criteria for evaluating these aircraft. Is it following standard evaluation process in technical terms. Has it carried out any flight evaluation of all the aircraft.

There have been cases where manufacturers have not been able to prove what they have written in paper when flight test was carried out. There has also been instances where the manufacturers had used a different and higher performance aircraft than was specified in the written technical paper during flight test. This is why it is VERY important that a flight test valuation is carried out to ensure they comply with the specs given in the written documents.

I understand that the EC725 selected is a 40-year old aircraft, certified in the 60s and 70s. It has been modified and upgraded all these while and given a new name and term. Can this EC 725 be guaranteed to last another 40 more years with all the modifications and upgrading anticipated?

If RMAF is buying this 40-yr old aircraft, then it might as well keep the Nuris, modify and upgrade them now. It will cost only a fraction of a new aircraft, especially taking into account the Sikorsky offer had reported by Berita Minggu of 1st June 2008, viz:

Syarikat pengeluar helikopter terkemuka dunia, Sikorsky Aircroft Corporation (Sikorsky) membuat tawaran kepada Kementerian Pertahanan untuk membeli kembali 29 helikopter Nuri atau Sikorsky S-61-A4 Sea Kings, jika Malaysia membuat keputusan membeli helicopter barunya, Superhawks S-92 untuk kegunaan Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM).

Eksekutif Jualan Serantau Sikorsky bagi Asia, Scott Pierce, berkata tawaran itu dibuat melalui bida dikemukakan syarikatnya kepada kementerian berkenaan, selepas Malaysia mengumumkan tawaran tender terbuka antarabangsa berhubung pembelian helicopter baru bagi pasukan itu.

Katanya, jika Malaysia memutuskan terus menggunakan Nuri bersama helicopter terbarunya, Sikorsky yang juga anak syarikat United Technologies Corporation (UTC), menyatakan komitmen membaik pulih atau meningkatkan khidmat Nuri di Negara ini.

“Sikorsky sedia membeli semua baki Nuri daripada TUDM untuk dijual kepada mana-mana pihak yang berminat, tetapi juga TUDM masih mahu menggunakan Nuri bersama helicopter S-92, kita sanggup membaik pulih dan meningkatkan helicopter berusia lebih 40 tahun itu, termasuk menukar daripada kokpit konvensional kepada kokpit kaca (digital).

“Tugas balik pulih Nuri akan membabitkan pemindahan teknologi terkini dan kepakaran kepada orang tempatan”, katanya kepada Berita Minggu pada temu bual di sini, baru-baru ini.

I am not a spokesman for Sikorsky, but this offer warrants an explanation from the Ministry of Defence as to the critera for the final selection of Eurocopter among the four “short-listed” bids.

The government had allocated US$600 million (RM1.93 billion) to buy an initial fleet of 12 helicopters, which will be in service until 2050.

Last year, the government cancelled a defence deal with the European aerospace giant EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) for 197 helicopters to the country’s army following adverse observations by Indian watchdog authorities over alleged irregularities in the defence bidding process.

According to published reports, Eurocopter allegedly used a local firm, Global Vectra Helicorp, to help broker the deal despite a ban in India on the use of middlemen in defence deal.

Eurocopter was also accused of presenting a civilian helicopter instead of a military version for statutory field trials by the Indian army.

But what should attract the attention and concern of Parliament is that the EADS deal to sell 197 Eucopters to the Indian government was a US$600 million which the Indian government subsequently cancelled.

Parliament and the nation are entitled to know why for the same amount of US$600 million, the Indian government was offered 197 Eurocopters as compared to 12 Eurocopters to Malaysia.

In the name of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance, I call for the immediate suspension of the RMAF helicopter award to subject it to a proper and above-board procurement process.