KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― The National Patriots Association (Patriot) today called on former defence minister Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein to take responsibility for the land swap fiasco that happened during his tenure, whether he personally benefited or not.

In a statement, its president Brig-Jen (Rtd) Datuk Mohamed Arshad Raji said it was appalling for Hishammuddin’s challenge to Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and his deputy Liew Chin Tong to state if he personally benefited from the Defence Ministry land swap deals.

"It is a big shame that he knew no shame,” said the group, referring to the former defence minister.

"His advising of Mohamad Sabu and Liew Chin Tong, ‘if they live in glass houses, don’t throw stone’ is a laughable attempt to deflect guilt to the current defence minister and his deputy, and akin to putting veil over one’s guilt.

"Like one in a similar flock, the trait could be observed in the behaviour of his former boss who shamefully proclaimed ‘Malu apa, Bossku’,” he said.

The slogan "Malu apa, Bossku” is Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s popular catchphrase that means "Why the shame, boss?”

Hishammuddin threw the challenge against Mohamad after the latter tabled the Governance, Procurement and Finance Investigating Committee report at Dewan Negara last Thursday.

Mohamad claimed that 13 of the 16 land swaps carried out during Barisan Nasional’s (BN) administration involved Hishammuddin as well as former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

He claimed there were many discrepancies, including the sale of land below market value or granting of projects to unqualified developers leading to losses of more than RM500 million.

Mohamed Arshad also urged investigations to be conducted swiftly for all defence minister who served from 1997 until May 2018, to be brought to book if there are grounds for suspicion.

"Whether Hishammuddin directly benefited from the notorious deals is up to the investigations of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police.

"Action be taken against those officials who failed to ensure that the land swap deals be conducted in accordance to Standard Operating Procedures,” he said.

He said there was also "outrages interference for political interest” and in choosing the land swap locations specifically to help BN politicians win votes in four camps ― Hutan Melintang, Perak, Segamat and Paloh, Johor, and Bera, Pahang.

"The implementation of the land swap deals was not planned thoroughly with no proper due diligence conducted when appointing developers resulting in uncompleted projects, completed projects of unsatisfactory quality, and projects not even started.

"It is a crying shame that some of the camps had to be closed down after the general election,” he said.