Don't challenge me to divulge alleged procedural breaches over government contracts, Anwar tells Muhyiddin

PUTRAJAYA — Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has reminded his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin not to challenge him to uncover alleged procedural breaches in the awarding of government contracts during the latter’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration.

Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Finance in Putrajaya on Tuesday (Dec 6), Mr Anwar claimed there were “tens of billions” of ringgit allocated by the then federal government that had violated existing rules and procedures.

He further noted that there were even companies with vested interests involving familial links.

“I want to remind Tan Sri Muhyiddin not to challenge (me) because it is evident there are processes and procedures that were not followed,” he told the press after clocking in as finance minister.

On Monday, Mr Anwar said the Finance Ministry had informed him that there had been several procedural breaches during the PN administration.

This came following allegations of misappropriation of RM600 billion (S$184 billion) in funds by Mr Muhyiddin’s administration for Covid-19 funds.

Mr Muhyiddin has since said he was not afraid of being investigated, saying he is baffled how critics came up with the amount.

Calls for an official investigation into the stimulus spending have mounted following suspicions around PN’s well-funded campaign in the lead-up to the 15th general election. Mr Muhyiddin’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia is the lead party in PN.

Kedah's Chief Minister Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor has since told a political rally that he was the one who came up with the figure of “RM600 billion” to praise PN’s handling of the pandemic. MALAY MAIL