PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar is puzzled by former prime minister Najib Razak’s proposal for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) and two gas pipeline projects, which the Pakatan Harapan government wants to cancel. 

“If I must remind our former PM, there are already so many RCIs, with so many recommendations. Almost all of which had been ignored,” the Permatang Pauh MP told reporters after joining charitable organisation Yayasan MyPrihatin for a Hari Raya Korban feast together with the local community at her service centre in Guar Perahu today.

She said she is not opposed in principle to having RCIs or checks and balances for large-scale projects, but pointed out that there is already the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) at Parliament that could check if there was anything amiss with the projects.

“I am not against it in principle. I just want us to do things quickly, in a manageable and efficient fashion, and most importantly, in a concrete manner,” she said.

“We can do that through the legislative…. what’s the priority of the government? To save money. And we already have the PAC, which is chaired by the opposition’s Beluran MP (Ronald Kiandee). The PAC can look into huge projects to check if there are elements of power abuse.

Najib, in a Facebook post yesterday, said the RCI was needed to clear misconceptions about the projects as Malaysians who did not know the facts were being misled by the government.

The projects involving China, which were introduced by his administration, were recently described as “stupid” by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his visit to China.

The present PH administration is negotiating with China to either cancel or defer the projects.

“If we have the time, we should make sure we exhaust all the legal channels and avenues. There’s nothing wrong (with setting up an RCI) but if we already have the parliament, we should make sure the Dewan Rakyat functions first,” Nurul Izzah said.

She also said that when Najib was in power the House did not function as it should have and that information about many large projects were not revealed in detail, such as the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) scandal.

In 2016, former Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia banned MPs from raising questions about 1MDB, saying Parliament should not discuss the matter because it could affect civil suits filed by the US Department of Justice in relation to the 1MDB scandal.

That ban was only recently lifted by current Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof.

On the ECRL and High Speed Rail (HSR) between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, another project which Malaysia wants to cancel, Nurul Izzah said she would like to have more information about the projects.

“We have to make decisions according to merit and depending on whether we can afford it. We cannot sacrifice funds that belong to the people through compensations that might be too high.

“We have to see the feasibility of the projects too. I have also met Malaysians working in Singapore who support the HSR. There are many things to consider.

“We have to ensure a high degree of transparency and due diligence in the decisions that we make,” she said, commenting on the government’s decision not to proceed with the mega projects. – August 24, 2018.