ATTORNEY-GENERAL Idrus Harun and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner Azam Baki must resign due to their inaction in investigating the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal, DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng said today.

According to Lim, the fact that the two senior civil servants had to be told to speed up investigations by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob shows that they have failed in their duties.

“That Azam and Idrus had to be summoned by the prime minister and ordered to speed up its investigation and drag all those responsible to court respectively is tantamount to an open admission that both have miserably failed their statutory duty to act independently and professionally without fear or favour,” Lim said in a statement.

“To fail to act on public complaints and from the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee until requiring a special directive from the prime minister to do so shows that both men are unfit for their position.”

This, he said, is another reason why both posts should be independent to avoid misuse as a political weapon.

Yesterday, Ismail said the report of a special committee convened by the former Pakatan Harapan administration to investigate the LCS contract will be made public.

The cabinet made the decision in its weekly meeting, the prime minister said.

The cabinet also proposed declassifying a 2019 forensic audit report of the contract, subject to the advice and views of the attorney-general and the auditor-general.

The cabinet also decided to order the MACC and AGC to finalise their investigations and commence prosecutions. 

Malaysia was rocked again recently with the longstanding LCS procurement back in the spotlight after the PAC released its report on its failures.

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

The PAC 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, when Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was defence minister. – August 11, 2022.