Deputy Defence Minister Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz has lodged a police report against PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli for allegedly slandering him of an RM854 million defence contract controversy.

In a statement, Ikmal (above) said the report was lodged by his senior private secretary Mohammad Iskandar Idris at the Dang Wangi district police headquarters today.

"The report is against an article on Rafizi's Facebook yesterday entitled 'Cancel the intention to reward SPH (self-propelled howitzers) contract to a company tied to a deputy minister's son', which linked my name to a company named MA Analytics Sdn Bhd.

"It is slander and a politically-motivated lie to defame my good name," Ikmal said.

According to him, as the deputy defence minister, he does not have the power to influence or choose the company for any of the ministry's acquisitions.

This is because the Defence Ministry has stipulated that every acquisition and its fittings have to go through a detailed work process that has to be approved by the respective consumers, such as the armed forces, navy and the air force, he noted.

PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli

The acquisitions must also be presented to and vetted by various other central government agencies such as the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Finance Ministry, Ikmal stated.

"Therefore, the claims Rafizi has made in his article are accusations to tarnish my name and instigate the public to hate me.

"I leave it to the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to investigate Rafizi and take action under the existing laws," said Ikmal.

He further stressed that he is willing to cooperate with any agency, especially the MACC on the matter.

Earlier this week, Rafizi had claimed that the company which is lobbying for a direct tender to procure SPH for the army, was tied to the close family members of a deputy minister.

Following the allegation, the Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (Patriot) called for the deputy minister to resign, and urged Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to explain if he was aware of the alleged cronyism.

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