Is Hishammuddin going to present the proposal of RCI into the RM9 billion LCS scandal to the Cabinet tomorrow or has he given up on the idea of an RCI into LCS scandal altogether?
Is the Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein going to present the proposal for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the RM9 billion littoral combatant ships (LCS) scandal to the Cabinet tomorrow or has he given up on the idea of an RCI into the LCS scandal altogether?
On August 16, Hishammuddin promised the Dewan Negara that he will present the suggestion of a RCI into the LCS scandal at the next day’s Cabinet meeting.
After the Cabinet meeting on August 17, 2022, Hishammuddin said he had fulfilled his promise to bring the suggestion of a RCI into the LCI issue to the cabinet, but that more discussions and time were needed for a decision to be made.
He said: “It is still in the process involving all parties, particularly ministers.
“Of course, I can’t reveal what was discussed in the cabinet meeting but it must be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Questioned by the press on an expected timeframe for the cabinet to decide, Hishammuddin noted that the Agong was at the time abroad and there were further matters that could be discussed at another cabinet meeting.
Tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting will be about a month after the Dewan Negara meeting and the third last Cabinet meeting before Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Oct. 3.
It is more than ample time for Hishammuddin to declare whether he would ask the Cabinet to decide on the issue of a RCI into the LCS scandal, or whether Hishammuddin has himself given up on the proposal for a RCI into the LCS scandal altogether.
I have given Hishammuddin 20 reasons why it is in the public interest to have a RCI into the LCS scandal.
There have been four Prime Ministers and six Defence Ministers in the past 15 years, and everyone of them should be able to throw light on the LCS scandal by testifying at the RCI.
But the onus of the LCS scandal fall mostly on the three former Defence Ministers in the years between 2007 to 2018.
I am convinced that the two earlier former Defence Ministers, namely Najib Razak who became Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2009 to 2018, and Zahid Hamidi who was the Defence Minister from 2009 – 2013, must bear the brunt of the responsibility for the LCS scandal.
Has Hishamumuddin, who became Defence Minister from 2013 – 2018 anything to hide that he does not want a RCI into the LCS scandal to reveal?
If Hishammuddin’s father, the third Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn, had been alive, he would have no hesitation about a RCI into the RM9 billion LCS scandal.
Tun Hussein presented a White Paper in Parliament in 1979 on the RM65 million Bank Rakyat scandal. The LCS scandal is 140 times that of Bank Rakyat scandal of 1977, and will be more, if eventually the procurement of the six LCS ended up with a bigger budget.
Is Hishammuddin any different from his father?