He said the total value of the projects was RM6.61 billion.

Tengku Zafrul was replying to a question from Ahmad Maslan (BN-Pontian), who asked if there were any open tenders carried out under the previous administration.

The minister’s reply caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat with MPs from both sides of the divide shouting at each other.

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng (PH-Bagan) tried to explain but his voice was drowned out by the shouting.

Senior Minister for Economy Mohamed Azmin Ali said the then finance minister had approved direct negotiations.

Lim claimed that ministers who are now in the Perikatan Nasional government had asked for projects to be awarded through direct negotiations.

The chaotic situation deteriorated, leading to Ngeh Koo Ham (PH-Beruas) being told to leave the house for not following the speaker’s instructions.

This happened when Tengku Zafrul was wrapping up his debate on the Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020.

Earlier, Tengku Zafrul said several criteria must be met before the government could approve projects via direct negotiations instead of open tenders.

The criteria include immediate allocation of funds, compatibility of items, the service is offered by only one company, security reasons and Bumiputera companies that meet the requirements needed for the projects.

Lim insisted that the projects that were awarded via direct negotiations met the criteria, and this claim sparked shouting from the government bench.

Speaker Azhar Harun tried to calm the situation by muting the microphones, but the shouting continued.

Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) then asked that the projects concerned be made public, but Azmin replied that the details were not presented to the cabinet, sparking another round of chaos.

Lim later claimed that there were requests from the home ministry to carry out projects through direct awards.