Procurement Bill Carries Chilling Echoes Of 1mdb Warns Aliran

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Reform movement Aliran has sounded the alarm over the rushed passage of the Government Procurement Bill 2025, warning that the sweeping powers it hands to the finance minister and state chief ministers carry chilling echoes of the 1MDB scandal.
“The 1MDB case showed how concentrated executive power over government spending - whether through state-owned entities or direct procurement - creates opportunities for staggering corruption.
“By vesting similar unchecked discretion in future finance ministers over high-value procurement contracts, this bill recreates the very conditions that enabled 1MDB-type abuses in the past,” it said.
Aliran criticised the government for forcing the second reading and vote just three days before National Day, calling the move unbecoming of an administration that came to power on an anti-corruption and good governance platform.
ADS“For legislation that will govern billions of ringgit in public spending, many interested parties - including MPs, civil society groups, business groups and the public - were given little meaningful opportunity or time to scrutinise and provide input on this 93-clause bill.
“This hasty approach mirrors the authoritarian tendencies that reform movements seek to dismantle,” it added.
The group stressed that a genuinely reformist government would have held extensive consultations, public hearings, and ensured transparency before tabling such a far-reaching bill, including seeking vetting by a parliamentary select committee and allowing sufficient time for debate.
“Despite years of civil society advocacy for strong procurement laws following endless corruption scandals, this bill institutionalises the very weaknesses that have plagued Malaysia’s governance.
“It unfortunately grants the finance minister and state chief ministers extraordinary discretion over procurement contracts above RM50 million for goods and services and RM100 million for works, with no upper limit.
“This shocking concentration of power is unbelievable, especially coming from a ‘reformist’ government,” it said.
Loopholes
Aliran highlighted that procurement board members face conflict-of-interest restrictions, yet ministers, who wield far greater authority, operate with no such safeguards.
It further noted that the bill creates an appeal tribunal that is not truly independent.
“The very minister whose decisions may be challenged appoints its members, sets its procedures and controls its secretariat. How can this be? It creates a sham accountability mechanism where the executive essentially reviews itself.
“The bill is riddled with provisions that allow ministers to exempt entire programmes from its application, bypass registration requirements (for politically connected actors?) and invoke extraordinary powers with no external oversight. These loopholes render the bill’s supposed safeguards meaningless,” it warned.
The group stressed that government procurement involves far more than office supplies, extending to mega projects, land reclamation, IT systems and professional services worth billions.
ADS“Without proper checks and balances, these contracts could become vehicles for rent-seeking, kickbacks and ‘commissions’, just as 1MDB’s procurement decisions facilitated massive financial misconduct,” it said.
Still, Aliran noted that opportunities remain to fix the flawed legislation if there is sustained public pressure ahead of the bill’s third reading and Senate hearings.
The group urged Malaysians to speak out and push for major revisions.
“Senators can’t sit back. They should propose meaningful amendments or reject the bill entirely instead of rubber-stamping it or voting along party lines.
“The committee stage review also offers an opportunity for detailed scrutiny and amendment of specific clauses that concentrate power, create conflicts of interest and undermine transparency,” it said.
Demands
Founded in Penang in 1977, Aliran also laid out several demands for the government, including:
Allowing genuine consultation and amendment during the Senate review process.
Removing provisions that concentrate enormous, unchecked power in the finance minister and state chief ministers.
Establishing truly independent oversight and appeals mechanisms.
Closing loopholes that permit circumvention of procurement safeguards.
Subjecting all high-value procurement and mega-projects to meaningful transparency requirements.
Introducing iron-clad clauses to deter present and future ministers from abusing their powers.
“The people of Malaysia deserve a procurement law that serves the public interest – not one that institutionalises the status quo or makes it worse.
“The government must choose whether it will honour its reform commitments or worsen the conditions that allowed rampant corruption to flourish,” it said.
The Dewan Rakyat passed the bill yesterday. In a bloc vote, 125 MPs voted in favour of the bill while 63 voted against it and one abstained. A total of 32 MPs were absent.
Opposition MPs subsequently staged a walkout in protest. - Mkini

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