Defence Minister Mohamad Hasan denied claims he was involved in the littoral combat ship scandal as claimed by some and said it was an attempt to tarnish his reputation.
Mohamad said such accusations were baseless because the decision to procure the ships was made before he was appointed defence minister.
“During the process of procurement, I was not even in parliament. I was only appointed defence minister 11 months ago, so such accusations or claims are character assassination, to sabotage my career,” he said in Paroi, Dataran Senawang, last night.
A YouTube video uploaded by Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin accused Mohamad of being involved in the LCS scandal.
The procurement of six LCS vessels by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) became a major scandal after it was found that despite signing the contract 10 years ago, only 53.29% of the project was completed as of May 31, 2019.
The Barisan Nasional (BN) deputy chairman also denied another accusation that he would soon be sacked as defence minister because he was not aligned with Anwar Ibrahim since he was not seen with the prime minister during the recent election campaigns.
“Did you know that the Defence Ministry received the highest allocation from the prime minister? I appealed for RM200 million and it was approved, to repair and upgrade the homes of armed forces personnel. Those who do not receive a pension were also given a special monthly allowance (for those 60 years and above) and that involved about 50,000 individuals.
“I was down with a fever for four days and could not attend campaigns. And there were some people who make up baseless stories,” he said.
The candidate for Rantau urged voters to ignore such baseless claims.
“There are also claims that the federal government would collapse if the results of the six state elections did not favour the unity government.
“Such claims are baseless because whatever the outcome of the six state elections on Saturday, it will not affect the federal government.
“The federal government was formed with a 2/3 majority and it is not under any threat. There will be no party hopping because the anti-party hopping law has been passed and enforced,” he said.