BN has slammed Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) for claiming that Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) was pulling out of the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor.

"Amanah leaders have a habit of issuing statements with little purpose, other than to seek publicity, based on rumours and shallow thinking," says a statement issued last night by the BN strategic communications team (BNSCT).

Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub had previously issued a statement asking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain why Saudi Aramco had pulled out from the Rapid project.

The Amanah leader reportedly said that this was evidence of the loss of confidence in Malaysia among international investors.

"Now that Saudi Aramco has signed to invest RM31 billion in the game-changing Rapid project, Salahuddin is predictably quiet," BNSCT said.

Responding to BNSCT, Salahuddin said his statement was not based on mere “rumours” and was instead based on a feasibility study by Saudi Aramco.

“The study stated that the joint venture would not generate sufficient funds for Aramco.

“I said it based on this, not rumours,” Salahuddin told Malaysiakini.

Welcoming the investment made by Aramco, Salahuddin however expressed hope that the share purchase agreement between Petronas and Aramco would be finalised truly.

“Hopefully there will not be reports of a pull-out again. If that happens, then it is true about the (feasibility) study stating that Aramco was worried that the investment would only be politically motivated,” added Salahuddin.

Meanwhile, BNSCT also trained its sights on Amanah parliamentarian Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad for questioning the warm ties and flowing investments between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia

BNSCT said that instead of congratulating the two governments on the deal, Raja Kamarul chose to question why the ties between these two countries are warm.

"Perhaps he would only be happy if Malaysia did not receive this foreign investment, or if the relations between our countries are bad?" asked BNSCT.

On Jan 31, Salahuddin called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain the reasons behind the purported withdrawal of Saudi Aramco from its joint venture with Petronas in Pengerang.

This speculation was finally put to rest yesterday, after Saudi Aramco bought a 50 percent stake in the Rapid project in a US$7 billion deal.

Earlier yesterday Raja Kamarul questioned whether there is a secret deal between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, noting perhaps that the investment, donations and additional haj quotas for Malaysia may involve clandestine Malaysian support for the kingdom's military operations in Yemen.