Overspending claims politically motivated, says Zahid’s aide

Razlan Rafii, serving as political secretary to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has dismissed Lim Guan Eng's claim that the rural and regional development ministry overspent. Razlan deemed the allegations to be politically motivated and made in bad faith. He questioned Lim, a former finance minister, on how he arrived at the RM2.1 billion figure allegedly representing overspending.

Razlan asked if Lim was basing his claim on a previous statement by the Treasury secretary-general or if he even sought clarification from the Treasury. Earlier, Lim had urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the alleged over-expenditure by the ministry, overseen by deputy prime minister Zahid. Lim stated that the ministry's spending from 2023 to 2025 resulted in a cumulative RM2.1 billion in over-expenditure, describing it as an irresponsible breach of financial procedures that could lead to legal action.

Earlier this month, Zahid expressed frustration over delayed payments to contractors working on ministry projects, with some contractors even shutting down due to cash flow issues. Treasury secretary-general Johan Mahmood Merican later revealed that contractors handling rural development projects faced delays as the ministry had already spent most of its allocation for rural roads, with RM1.8 billion in 2023, RM2 billion in 2024, and RM2.3 billion in 2025 exceeding their respective approved allocations of RM1.1 billion, RM1.3 billion, and RM1.6 billion.

Razlan labeled Lim's remarks as politically motivated and aimed at damaging Zahid's image as the Umno president, especially considering the upcoming Melaka polls. He urged Lim to introspect before making such allegations and suggested that he should focus on resolving his court case, referring to Lim's trial related to the DAP adviser’s undersea tunnel project.