KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 ― The Defence White Paper will definitely be tabled in the Dewan Rakyat in the current meeting, its minister Mohamad Sabu said today.
Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, insisted that his ministry was not deliberately delaying the White Paper as alleged by his predecessor Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, but needed time to make sure its information is correct.
“No delay… no delay. It will be tabled this session,” he told reporters in the Parliament lobby.
“The information must be accurate,” he added.
Hishammuddin took a swipe at Mohamad for changing the dates on the White Paper presentation six times since January, saying “I don't think terrorists will wait for our White Paper to be tabled” in his Budget 2020 speech yesterday.
The White Paper is set to overhaul the country’s military assets and operations and provide a blueprint for the next 10 years at a time when world superpowers China and the US are in conflict, and with the South China Sea that separates peninsular Malaysia from Sabah and Sarawak seen as a strategic geopolitical zone.
