Azmin, Guan Eng clash over Cabinet minutes on trade pact under PH govt
International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali clashes with Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng in the Dewan Rakyat today
KUALA LUMPUR: A disagreement over the ratification of an international free trade agreement sparked an argument today between MPs Mohamed Azmin Ali and Lim Guan Eng, both of whom were ministers under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
Azmin, who is now international trade and industry minister under Perikatan Nasional government, claimed that the PH government had agreed to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
The CPTPP is an agreement between 11 countries.
Azmin said a decision on the ratification was made in September 2018 when the Cabinet agreed to ratify the agreement without any time limit.
“We are now continuing discussions with stakeholders and the Attorney-General’s Chambers before we put it forward to the Cabinet for a new mandate,” he said when wrapping up his ministry’s policies.
Hearing this, Lim (PH-Bagan) stood to object, saying the PH Cabinet had not agreed to the ratification as “we did not want foreigners to interfere”.
“So it is not true that the Cabinet agreed. I hope you can correct the facts,” Lim told Azmin who was in charge of economic affairs under the PH government.
But Azmin told Lim to check the minutes of the Sept 5, 2018 meeting, at which Lim asked Azmin to look up the latest minutes of the meeting in 2019.
“Or check with (an) ex-Miti minister. Don’t twist the facts. Ask Langkawi MP (Dr Mahathir Mohamad), too.
“Speak the truth,” said Lim, who was the finance minister in the PH government.
To this, Azmin asked: “Why do you suggest that you are the only person who is speaking the truth?”
Ong Kian Ming, the former deputy international trade and industry minister, asked for permission to interject while Wong Chen (PH-Subang) asked for historical facts.
Earlier, Azmin told the Dewan Rakyat that up to May 31, 2020, Malaysia had received 32 projects from foreigners worth RM17.5 billion, out of which 28 projects had been approved.
Mukhriz Mahathir (Independent-Jerlun) then said big projects took at least a year to materialise and asked if the dealings were approved during the PH administration.
Mukhriz also asked about the types of promotion being carried out to attract foreign direct investments as the country was facing political uncertainties.
Azmin replied that even though the opposition claimed there were political uncertainties in the country, rating agencies and the World Bank had said that Malaysia’s economy would be one of the earliest to recover next year due to the stimulus packages and various measures taken by the PN government.
He further asked opposition MPs to change the narrative of fear in this regard to help create confidence in the country’s economy.
He said the slowdown was a global phenomenon, and due to that Putrajaya had carried out stimulus packages to cushion the economic impact of the crisis.
He was replying to Lim who told him that Fitch Ratings had revised its outlook on Malaysia’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating from stable to negative, and affirmed the rating at A-.
Ong Kian Ming, the former deputy international trade and industry minister, asked for permission to interject while Wong Chen (PH-Subang) asked for historical facts.
Earlier, Azmin told the Dewan Rakyat that up to May 31, 2020, Malaysia had received 32 projects from foreigners worth RM17.5 billion, out of which 28 projects had been approved.
Mukhriz Mahathir (Independent-Jerlun) then said big projects took at least a year to materialise and asked if the dealings were approved during the PH administration.
Mukhriz also asked about the types of promotion being carried out to attract foreign direct investments as the country was facing political uncertainties.
Azmin replied that even though the opposition claimed there were political uncertainties in the country, rating agencies and the World Bank had said that Malaysia’s economy would be one of the earliest to recover next year due to the stimulus packages and various measures taken by the PN government.
He further asked opposition MPs to change the narrative of fear in this regard to help create confidence in the country’s economy.
He said the slowdown was a global phenomenon, and due to that Putrajaya had carried out stimulus packages to cushion the economic impact of the crisis.
He was replying to Lim who told him that Fitch Ratings had revised its outlook on Malaysia’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating from stable to negative, and affirmed the rating at A-.
*********
kaytee notes:
Much as I don't like Guan Eng with regards to many things, I support him on this because I just don't bloody trust the other party wakakaka, thus making Guan Eng truthful by default, wakakaka again.
😂😂😂
Does KT agree with Tony Pua too...? Ha ha ha...go on...it's good for the soul...
ReplyDeleteTony was dead right about Jibby ripping off SRC, the Judge said so, but nobody has apologised so far, not even Apandi who declared Jibby totally innocent, or UMNO/Bossku supporters.
QUOTE
PN govt asked to explain if it dropped RM24.8b IPIC-1MDB dispute in UK
3 Aug 2020
The Perikatan Nasional government must clarify reports that it is dropping a case filed by the previous Pakatan Harapan government against Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) over a US$5.87 billion (RM24.8 billion) settlement dispute, Damansara MP Tony Pua said.
This came after the Sarawak Report, which first exposed the 1MDB scandal in 2015, claimed that the PN government has decided to halt court proceedings against IPIC in the UK in favour of diplomatic negotiations with the Abu Dhabi government.
UNQUOTE
Does KT also agree with Guanee on this....? Or KT still have poor understanding of 1MDB scandal? Only have excellent understanding and elephantine memory of 30, 40-year old scandals, all coincidentally during Toonsie's time?
ReplyDeleteQUOTE
Prove you weren’t duped in 1MDB settlement, Guan Eng tells Putrajaya
FMT Reporters -August 2, 2020
PETALING JAYA: Lim Guan Eng said Putrajaya must reassure the public that it was not duped by Goldman Sachs in resolving charges and claims linked to the three bond transactions the company had arranged for 1MDB.
The former finance minister claimed the financial world saw the investment bank as “getting off cheaply” by paying only one-third of the initial demand of US$7.5 billion made by the previous government.
Pakatan Harapan had demanded the sum in exchange for dropping criminal charges against the bank and 17 current and former Goldman Sachs directors.
“Public interest and accountability demand that the Perikatan Nasional government answer whether justice is served by allowing Goldman Sachs to pay one-third of the US$7.5 billion in exchange for absolving them of all criminal punishment,” Lim said in a statement today.
Goldman Sachs had last month agreed to a total settlement of US$3.9 billion (RM16.6 billion).
The settlement includes cash payment of US$2.5 billion and a guarantee of a full recovery value of at least US$1.4 billion in assets that are traceable to the diverted proceeds from the three bond transactions.
Lim said the government “cannot hide the fact” that the US$1.4 billion is not paid by Goldman Sachs but will be derived from assets of 1MDB seized by authorities around the world.
To forgo the initial US$7.5 billion claim with only US$3.9 billion ignores the huge debt burden of 1MDB, the DAP secretary-general said.
UNQUOTE
i agree its complicated, the hermas birkin handbag narrative suit my intelligence better.
DeleteKtemoc thoroughly dislikes a decent and hardworking leader like Lim Guan Eng, but admires and acts as a propagandist cum sanitizer for Thief.
ReplyDeleteGo figure..
A know-nothing wannabe minister reading from the prepared script done by subordinates, who were told to print rosy picture.
ReplyDeleteA hardworking ex-minister, toiled to right the fortune of the country & yet got zilch supports from his ketuanan infested colleagues while been blackgoated as playing personal interests!