Dr Wee: ‘I think this is not an instruction by the PM. Someone was misusing the PMO’s name.’
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam) has revealed that he received a call from an individual who identified himself as “Deepak” and claimed to represent J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd over an issue concerning imported eggs from India.
Dr Wee said he was told by “Deepak” to issue a clarification following alleged discussions with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
“He alleged that he discussed with the PMO, claiming that I needed to issue a statement and the matter would be settled outside of court,” Dr Wee said during his speech on the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry’s allocation in Budget 2023 in Parliament yesterday.
“I said: What is this? I did not mention the name of your company and your name. Why must you do this?
“I was just a spokesperson for the rakyat. This is an issue with the egg supply,” Dr Wee said, without elaborating further on the individual.
Recently, Perikatan Nasional information chief Datuk Seri Azmin Ali also claimed that the government awarded the project to import eggs from India to controversial businessman Deepak Jaikishan.
J&E subsequently refuted the claims by Azmin, saying that it was a blatant lie by the Bersatu leader.
“J&E was never awarded any direct negotiations by the government, nor did J&E sell or offer to sell the eggs imported from India to the government or GLCs,” said J&E on March 13.
On Feb 28, Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu stated that only one company had been given permission to import eggs from India, and that was J&E Advance Tech Sdn Bhd.
Meanwhile, Dr Wee stressed that he has no vested interest in the issue, and he had instructed his lawyers to file a writ of summons in court on Tuesday.
He also noted that Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul had issued a letter to the Ayer Hitam MP, which cited the Federal Constitution and stated that MPs have legal immunity over matters raised in the Dewan Rakyat.
“This undermines the letter by the Speaker and the parliamentary institution. We need to cite this as a contempt of parliamentary proceedings,” he said.
Datuk R. Ramanan (PH-Sungai Buloh) interjected and said the call by “Deepak” was a form of intimidation.
Ramanan also said it could set a bad precedent if individuals continue to abuse the Prime Minister’s or the PMO’s name for their vested interests.
“This will land us in a situation where people will be using the Speaker’s name in the future,” he said.
Dr Wee, who spoke subsequently, noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had visited MCA’s Chinese New Year open house on Jan 22, and he conveyed his concerns regarding the egg shortage issue to Anwar during that visit.
“I think this is not an instruction by the PM. Someone was misusing the PMO’s name,” Dr Wee said, stressing that he will not be manipulated by any company to issue statements to promote their interests.
“We have a principle that as a spokesperson of the people, we cannot be threatened in any form,” he added.
Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (PN-Arau), who spoke after Dr Wee, also wanted to know whether the person mentioned by Dr Wee had received approval to import eggs from India.
Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin (PN-Putrajaya) interjected and asked for more information about a picture that went viral on social media of a minister and a businessman going to India.
“My question is, was any of the government allocation used for the visit, and whether it was brought to the Cabinet, or is it a sponsored visit?” he said.
Shahidan then asked whether the question from Radzi was an accusation or merely meant to clarify the situation.
To this, Radzi said it was just a question for the relevant ministry.
