This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on January 31, 2019

PUTRAJAYA: The cabinet has decided that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be the only person to make announcements on the proposed RM81 billion East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project owing to the sensitivity surrounding the contract, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“The cabinet met today (yesterday), and the ECRL matter was discussed. The cabinet made a decision to adopt the statement made by the prime minister yesterday that the matter is still under negotiations, and in view of the sensitivity of the contract, we should allow the discussions, which are now at G2G (government-to-government) level, to be held away from the public glare and spotlight.

“We would urge the media to wait for the official statement issued by the government when we are ready to do so. The cabinet also decided that no minister would make any announcement except for the prime minister.”

Asked which ministry is in charge of the ECRL negotiations, he obfuscated, “The government of Malaysia is in charge”.

The ECRL project came under the limelight again following conflicting statements last weekend by Guan Eng and Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali. The latter stated that it would be canned as it was too costly, and the former expressed surprise at his cabinet colleague’s statement.

On Tuesday after attending Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s top leadership council meeting, Dr Mahathir said Putrajaya had yet to decide on the ECRL as both Malaysia and China are still in talks.

Putrajaya expects to recover ‘small amount’ of 1MDB stolen funds this year

On a separate matter, Guan Eng said Malaysia expects to recover the first tranche of funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) within the year.

“In the near future — within this year — we expect Malaysia will receive some money which we recovered from the 1MDB scandal. This is not a big sum — small amount — but this will be the first tranche of funds Malaysia can recover. Even it is not as much as billions of ringgit, it is a start.”

However, he declined to reveal the source, or its origins, whether international or local.

Guan Eng was speaking at a press conference after handing over a RM20 million mock cheque to Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail in support of a “Buy Malaysia products campaign”.

Guan Eng again urged opposition political parties that had received funds siphoned from state-owned 1MDB to return the money before legal action is instituted against them.

“There were opposition political parties (which) claimed that they support the National Anti-Corruption Plan (NACP), which was launched by the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday (on Tuesday). We hope these parties (which) have received money from 1MDB to return the money to the Malaysian government,” he said, adding, “One big party received hundreds of millions of ringgit, another one got RM16.5 million.”

On Tuesday, Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan and PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had expressed support for the NACP.

Saifuddin said his ministry would use the RM20 million from the finance ministry for various initiatives under the Malaysia-made products campaign, including to assist locally-made products gain entry into hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores through sponsorship or incentives to exempt listing fees.