KUALA LUMPUR, May 31 — The controversy that erupted over the Selangor government’s transport pilot project was never about the involvement of minister Hannah Yeoh or her family, but about how public contracts are awarded, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar said.

The former Umno politician said that while officials have made it clear Yeoh, the incumbent youth and sports minister, has no direct hand in the award of the contract, explanations given so far have "missed the point”.

"The issue is the optic. It is not an offence as Yeoh is not involved in awarding the project. Just that it became a problem from what we read on this issue,” he said in last night’s Keluar Sekejap podcast episode.

Khairy pointed out that the public had not been given a clear explanation and only knew that the companies involved in the pilot project had been given approval from the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad), which is an agency under the Transport Ministry and the minister in charge is from DAP, the same political party Yeoh belongs to.

"After the licence was approved by Apad, the project was evaluated by the Selangor Investment, Trade, and Mobility Committee chairman Ng Sze Han, who is also from DAP.

"So you know where I’m going with this. The company involved is owned by a person who is a spouse to a DAP minister, the project was approved under a DAP minister and evaluated by a DAP exco,” he added.

Khairy said Ng’s clarification on the issue did not focus on how the pilot project was awarded.

"Ng’s explanation makes sense as he said it was a request for proposal and not possible for open tender as not many companies are doing this.

"But the way he answered missed the point. He should have explained more on the request for proposal and professional evaluation.

"But he stressed in his answer that another company associated with experienced Malay business figures in this industry, namely Badan Bus Coach Sdn Bhd was also given the same opportunity.

"No need to talk about this. That’s not the point. The point is not who got it or what race the recipient is. He just needs to explain that there is no conflict of interest,” he said.

According to Khairy, critics made "noise” because of their dislike for Yeoh’s moral posturing and the way she criticised the Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders when the coalition was in full power.

"One of the Harapan leaders who tried to show that she was sanctimonious, and morally superior, was actually Hannah Yeoh.

"She made a trademark of herself as being sanctimonious as though the other side, at that time, BN was immoral, crony capitalism and so on,” he said.

He claimed that Yeoh’s "sanctimonious” personality continues to trigger not only her political rivals in Perikatan Nasional, but also her allies in Pakatan Harapan.

But he added that calls for Yeoh to resign from her ministerial position are "extreme and unfair” at this stage.

He said that ministers in the past BN administration would recuse themselves from a meeting whenever the Cabinet discussed business deals involving their spouses.

"This was a common practice and was included in the minutes of meetings. Maybe now this code of conduct should be made official,” he said.

Khairy’s podcast co-host and fellow sacked Umno member Shahril Hamdan suggested that to promote transparency, the government establish a code of conduct for ministers to declare any business dealings involving their spouses.

Shahril said such conduct was already in practice in countries like Singapore and the United Kingdom so as to avoid conflicts of interest, as well as nepotism and cronyism at the highest levels of the government.

"I’m sure Ramachandran is a legitimate and well-deserving businessman, but the issue is that he is a minister’s husband,” he said, referring to Yeoh’s husband by name.

"So how do you manage both sides? He deserves a career as well,” Shahril added.

Yeoh has been under increasing pressure to step down as a minister following the storm surrounding her husband’s company Asia Mobiliti Sdn Bhd, one of two companies contracted to provide a Demand-Responsive Transit (DRT) system in Selangor.

Several DAP leaders have defended Yeoh and called the resignation demands premature, after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cleared her of any involvement in the bus transit pilot project.

Its chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki told the media this week that the decision to award the contract is up to the Selangor menteri besar and not Yeoh, who is no longer a state assemblyman.

He also added that further investigations can be conducted if there is any new lead to prove conflict of interest.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also weighed in and said investigations can be conducted if the authorities see a need to do so, as the public deserves a proper explanation of the tender process.

Asia Mobiliti has rejected allegations of foul play in getting the contract, saying the claims are baseless and malicious.

The Selangor government announced the appointment of Asia Mobiliti and the second DRT provider, Badan Bas Coach Sdn Bhd, at a public forum organised by the Selangor government with Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam and Menteri Besar Selangor Incorporated on June 15, 2023.