MP SPEAKS | Malaysians have to thank Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz for highlighting the issue of direct negotiation contracts although his intention was not so noble as it was primarily a mean political power play in Parliament aimed at the Pakatan Harapan government to suggest that it was lacking in integrity in the conduct of financial affairs.

But Zafrul’s ham-fisted strategy has returned to bite him and the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government and scoring his own goal as the list of 101 projects given through direct negotiations worth RM6.61 billion released by him had become the most powerful testimony that the 22-month Harapan government, whatever its mistakes or shortcomings, was better than both the previous BN government and the present “backdoor” PN government...