PM 'missed opportunity' to clear name over Scorpene

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and the Defence Ministry lost an opportunity to clear themselves over the alleged sale of military secrets, said Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The prime minister and the ministry could have answered the allegation had her emergency motion on the matter been debated in the Dewan Rakyat, she said in a statement yesterday.

Nurul Izzah (far left) had filed the emergency motion in the House to force a debate on the topic, but it was rejected by speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

"The debate would compel the government - especially the prime minister and the defence minister - to explain themselves to clear their names."

She said one of the issues which needed clarification was the role of Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd in the controversy.

Nurul Izzah said the circumstances of the allegation on the sale of a ‘top secret' evaluation document of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) on the Scorpene-class submarines also demanded an explanation from the government.

This was especially so since Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has admitted that "information" had been leaked, added Nurul Izzah.

"It is very suspicious that the defence minister is investigating information leaked from Malaysia despite the fact that he denies there was a sale of naval secrets," she said, referring to Ahmad Zahid's June 8 statement.

'Wrong rule applied'

Pandikar (right) yesterday rejected Nurul Izzah's motion by invoking Standing Order 23 (1)(h), arguing that:

"A question shall not be asked (in Parliament) for the purpose of obtaining an expression of opinion, the solution of an abstract legal case or the answer to a hypothetical proposition."

Commenting on this, Nurul Izzah said her question was not related to an "abstract legal case", "hypothetical proposition", nor was it an "expression of opinion".

She contended that her emergency motion was to seek detailed explanation from the Defence Ministry on the commissions paid for the two Scorpene submarines purchased by Malaysia and the sale of secret military documents.

Nurul Izzah based her motion on the revelation by French lawyer Joseph Breham that French shipbuilder DCNS had paid 36 million euro (RM142 million) to Terasasi (Hong Kong) Ltd, supposedly for "commercial engineering" works.

Breham, who is representing Kuala Lumpur-based human rights group Suaram in a French lawsuit over the matter, claimed that the sum was for a copy of the RMN's evaluation for the purchase of the submarines.

Terasasi is a company co-owned by Najib's former confidante Razak Baginda and Razak's father, Abdul Malim Baginda.