KUALA LUMPUR – A street protest by youth demanding accountability over the RM9-billion littoral combat ship (LCS) project will take place in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon, but for the most part, political observers doubt the details of the scandal will severely impact voter sentiments if a general election is called soon.
Although most people can agree that the scandal underlines the need for reforms in government procurement processes, public apathy runs deeper as Malaysians have long been used to news of similar scandals involving public funds, they told The Vibes.
Singapore Institute of International Affairs senior fellow Oh Ei Sun said voters with established political preferences are unlikely to change their views or opinions, regardless of whoever is at fault in the scandal.
“I frankly think after Cowgate, 1MDB, FGV and the like, people are getting desensitised about these scandals, and would perhaps not be overly agitated by them, unless some smoking guns emerge, which is not yet the case.
“As such, they will still pretty much stick to their electoral preference or lack thereof,” he said.
Cowgate is a reference to the National Feedlot Corporation scandal involving the misuse of a RM250-million government loan, while FGV or Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd was linked via investment arm Felda Investments Corporation to the purchase of luxury properties in the UK. 1MDB or 1Malaysia Development Bhd involved former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and is said to be a major factor in the toppling of BN from Putrajaya in the 2018 general election.
To date, the LCS project has paid RM6 billion to build six ships, but none have been delivered to the government.
Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which released its findings on the supposedly mismanaged project in a report on August 4, recommended the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to prosecute those behind the alleged scandal.
Since then, opposition politicians have zoomed in on Najib, who was prime minister at the time of the project, as well as former defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and current Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, for their alleged involvement in the supposed scandal.
Zahid and Najib, already embroiled in various criminal trials, have denied any culpability and have engaged the opposition in a tit-for-tat blame game over delays in the project.
Najib has also tried to drag in former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad by bringing up an earlier defence project in 1998 during the latter’s first stint as prime minister, to build six offshore patrol vessels. These were by a different company, PSC Industries Bhd, but were not delivered either.
The accusations that both sides are hurling at each other may bore voters, but Oh said BN’s image could still be negatively impacted. It will have to distance itself from those allegedly involved in the misdeeds, he added.
“Also, the economy will only get worse as time passes, which will not be favourable to BN,” said Oh.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia geostrategist Prof Azmi Hassan, meanwhile, feels that BN could sidestep the corruption allegations in the LCS project by highlighting instead on the project’s importance to the national’s security, and how it was a boon to the local economy and jobs.
The LCS were deemed necessary by the government at the time to protect littoral states such as those along the Straits of Melaka, Azmi added.
And if Pakatan Harapan uses it to attack BN too much, it can backfire on the opposition coalition.
“PH has to be very careful because the scandal is with their austerity measures during their tenure in Putrajaya,” Azmi said, referring to how PH restructured the East Coast Rail Line development and terminated the High-Speed Rail project to Singapore.
Oh feels PH’s leverage from the LCS scandal will be too little to help it face the 15th general election, as the opposition remains fractured.
“The perception of the opposition being weak and fragmented has long existed. This scandal would not add to or subtract from that.” – The Vibes, August 14, 2022
