Muhyiddin's ex-aide slams news portals on vaccine procurement claim

Muhyiddin's ex-aide slams news portals on vaccine procurement claim


Marzuki Mohamad, the former principal private secretary to Muhyiddin Yassin, has come out swinging against news portals that he claims have an agenda to vilify his former boss with allegations of corruption.

"I read some posts on the news portals that seem pro-DAP and anti-PN. At first, I didn't care much. It's normal that each media has its strategy. However, over time, I noticed more and more spins made by these portals.

"The latest spin is that the PN government under the leadership of Muhyiddin Yassin has embezzled RM10 billion in vaccine procurement money during the (Covid-19) emergency period.

"I was surprised because I knew the ceiling allocation approved by the government (and ater by Parliament) for the procurement of vaccines using the National Trust Fund was only RM5 billion.

"How can the government steal RM10 billion if the allocation is only RM5 billion? This doesn't make sense," Marzuki (above) said.

He said he was afraid that many people would be influenced by claims that are not true.

"The issue of vaccine procurement was presented to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in several sessions in 2021. This PAC report is a public document that can be accessed on the Parliament website.

"Until July 21, 2021, which is the end of the 2021 emergency, the government has ordered enough vaccine supplies for 120 percent of the population (please refer to Page 32 of the PAC Report).

"As of July 21, 2021, a total of RM1.027 billion of the RM5 billion ceiling allocation has been spent (please refer to page 35 of the PAC Report)," Marzuki added.

Pointed out that Muhyiddin resigned as Prime Minister on Aug 16, 2021, he asked where the portals got the RM10 billion figure from.