FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should renounce any plans of a political comeback to save the country from any global embarrassment, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.
The Iskandar Puteri MP said this in the wake of the court testimony of a former Finance Ministry (MOF) official that Malaysia still owes US$3 bil (RM13.3 bil) in debt as a result of a joint venture (JV) between 1MDB and Aabar Investments.
On Wednesday (June 15) former MOF deputy secretary-general Datuk Siti Zauyah Md Desa told the High Court in Najib’s 1MDB trial that the Government has to pay off the US$3 bil loan taken by 1MDB to fund the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project.
Lim further highlighted the statement by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki that the total assets forfeited and returned to the Malaysian Government last year were worth about RM5.1 bil, with 99.57% of it linked to 1MDB.
He also noted former United States Attorney-General Jeff Sessions’ description of the 1MDB scandal as “kleptocracy at its worst” at the Global Forum on Asset Recovery in Washington in December 2017.
According to the DAP stalwart Putrajaya appeared to have forfeited its constitutional role to lead a campaign against corruption in Malaysia, with constitutional monarchs assuming the role, such as the recent calls by the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Nazrin Shah and Selangor ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.
“Will the Parliament in its July/August meeting fill the role abdicated by Putrajaya to initiate an anti-corruption campaign, as illustrated by the absence of a discussion by the Cabinet yesterday on the need for a new campaign against corruption in Malaysia?” he asked in a statement today (June 16).
Meanwhile Lim also commended the “forthright, appropriate, patriotic and courageous” statement by Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim following the outstanding speech by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah.
Lim was referring to Al-Sultan Abdullah’s speech at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)’s 93rd convocation ceremony recently where His Majesty said all religions denounced corruption as it is a cancer that can ruin civilisations.
In response to His Majesty’s speech, Hassan, who is also a MACC special committee (JKMR) member, had lamented that Najib’s presence at the palace had cast a shadow on the monarch’s words of wisdom.
“There is nothing more appropriate now than to remind Malaysians of the bane of corruption, in view of the following developments,” Lim remarked.
“Therefore, the most proper, honourable and patriotic thing Najib could do is to renounce any political comeback as prime minister to save the country from any global embarrassment.” – June 16, 2022
