UMNO Youth wants politicians to be kept out of any royal commission of inquiry (RCI) set up to investigate the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said.

The Umno Youth chief said if such a commission is formed, it must be made up of experts in shipbuilding.

“The commission should have experts in warship construction and engineering as well as those who are respectable,” he said in a statement today after chairing its youth wing’s meeting at the party headquarters in World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. 

“This is important to ensure that the findings and investigation results are not biased or seen to be siding with anyone.”  

The wing yesterday joined the chorus demanding for the setting up of an RCI, saying it will end help stop the endless blaming, speculation and provocation by various parties had taken following the release of the Public Accounts Committee’s report on the scandal on Thursday. 

“Umno Youth would like to push the government to set up this commission immediately to investigate this issue in a comprehensive and independent manner,” Asyraf said in a Facebook post yesterday.

He said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission should work quickly and reveal its investigation findings soonest to ensure that those involved in any graft over the LCS project are brought to justice.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said a report of a special committee formed by the Pakatan Harapan administration to investigate the procurement of the LCSs will be made public.

Ismail said the cabinet made the decision in its weekly meeting today.

The cabinet also proposed that the forensic audit report of the project conducted in 2019 be declassified, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and the auditor-general.

“The cabinet meeting made a decision that the Report of the Government Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigation Committee chaired by former auditor-general Ambrin Buang be made public,” Ismail said in a statement.

“The cabinet also proposed that the forensic auditing report of the project conducted in 2019 be declassified, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and auditor-general.

“The cabinet’s decision today will not interfere with the cabinet’s recovery plan.”

Malaysia was rocked again recently with the longstanding LCS issue back in the spotlight after the PAC released its report on the failed project.

The report disclosed that it had held nine proceedings on the project, starting on November 18, 2020, and the last one on March 8 this year, by calling several witnesses.

Proceedings found that the contract was awarded to Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd via direct negotiations, with the government paying RM6.08 billion but not even one LCS has been delivered.

According to the original schedule, five ships should have been ready and handed over by this month.

The project was started under the Najib Razak administration. The defence minister at the time was Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is the Umno president now. – August 10, 2022.