“We’ll be issuing a full statement on Monday. Rest assured, everything is above board, we would not partake in anything unethical or underhanded,” he said in a social media post.

Premesh’s remarks come amid questions on possible preferential treatment in the tender process following revelations that Asia Mobility CEO Ramachandran Muniandy is the husband of youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh.

Asia Mobility Technologies is one of two companies selected for the DRT service to provide first- and last-mile public transport services within the state.

On Friday, Selangor investment, trade and mobility committee chairman Ng Sze Han said two companies – Asia Mobility Technologies and Badan Bas Coach – were selected to run the system.

He said the decision was made after a presentation to the state transport committee and based on their experience in rolling out their proof of concept.

Premesh, the former CEO of news portal Malaysiakini, said Ramachandran has a “solid background in business and software development”.

“Ramachandran has done a great job building a superb team, winning awards, and securing multiple funding rounds,” he said.

Previously, X user @RakyatAduan asked the Selangor government how a company closely linked to the minister could be given the project.

Netizens also asked if there was an open tender and whether Asia Mobility Technologies was chosen on merit.