DEPUTY Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has until Nov 12 to explain whether rural development projects were affected by funding reallocations under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry (KKDW), following allegations that he gave Parliament conflicting accounts of the matter.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, in a letter dated Nov 4, directed Zahid, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, to submit an explanation and supporting documents by next Thursday.
The directive follows a motion by Kampar MP Chong Zhemin to refer Zahid to Parliament's Rights and Privileges Committee under Standing Order 36(12) for allegedly misleading the Dewan Rakyat.
Chong showed Johari's letter to reporters at Parliament today.
"In this regard, the Honourable Member is requested to provide an explanation on this matter and submit evidence or documents supporting the explanation by Thursday, Nov 12, 2026," Johari said in the letter.
Chong said he hoped Zahid would clarify the discrepancies and withdraw his earlier statement.
"I raised this issue on Monday, but the Minister was absent, so the Speaker asked me to submit a written motion. I therefore filed the motion on the Speaker's instructions.
"This case has taken several days, and I think we are getting a clearer picture of what happened," he said.
The dispute stems from statements made during the committee-stage debate on the 2027 Supply Bill in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.
Chong alleged that Ahmad Zahid's response during the ministry's winding-up session on Oct 26 contradicted remarks made by Amir Hamzah during the Finance Ministry's winding-up session last Thursday.
He said he had asked Ahmad Zahid whether any rural development projects had been dropped to accommodate funding obtained through a Notice of Change (NOC).
According to Chong, Ahmad Zahid had replied that no projects were sacrificed.
However, Amir Hamzah subsequently explained that financial management procedures allowed allocations to be redistributed through an NOC to meet project requirements, but that additional funding for the Rural Roads Programme (JALB) had resulted in reductions to allocations for other programmes.
Chong argued that the Finance Ministry's explanation suggested that other projects had indeed suffered funding cuts, raising questions over the accuracy of Ahmad Zahid's earlier response. - November 5, 2026
