PETALING JAYA, Nov 11 — PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who has alleged hanky panky in the awarding of a RM2 billion government contract for flood mitigation works, is hoping caretaker environment and water minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man will follow through with his defamation lawsuit threat.
The former Pandan MP who is bidding to make a comeback in the November 19 general election today confirmed receiving a letter of demand (LoD) from the PAS politician’s lawyer for a public apology and a retraction of his allegations.
“I want to go to court because I have concrete proof of what I have revealed,” he said at a news conference at the PKR headquarters here this morning.
“My experience so far is that only half of the LoDs that are sent to me end in a lawsuit.
“For example, LoDs I received in relation to the 1MDB case never ended in a lawsuit,” he added.
He said that he will be issuing a reply to the LoD within a week.
Rafizi also shared with the media what appeared to be an official letter addressed to the chief secretary of the Environment and Water Ministry, which stated that a company had been approved via direct negotiation for a flood mitigation project at Sungai Langat.
The company had allegedly been approved by then finance minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The letter was dated October 7, which was the day Budget 2023 was tabled in Parliament, and also one working day before the dissolution of Parliament was announced on October 10.
However, despite his allegations, Rafizi said he won’t be reporting the matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as he did not trust its current leadership.
“Even though Tuan Ibrahim has challenged me to make an MACC report, I hope he can be patient because an MACC report will definitely be made if PH forms the federal government soon,” he said.
Rafizi had first commented on the matter last Monday, where he said the company that had allegedly received the project had a special status making it exempt from having to file audited financial statements.
He also alleged that the company’s owner had close ties with Umno’s leadership.
Malay Mail has chosen not to name the company in question or its owner until Rafizi’s claims can be independently verified.
