DAMANSARA MP Tony Pua saw his questions into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the six Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs who were charged with corruption rejected for the current parliamentary sitting.
Pua had submitted questions about the stand of the attorney-general on the ongoing 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd corruption case against former prime minister Najib Razak, as well as about the position of the government on the six MPs who are being charged for corruption, especially if they are found guilty.
“These questions should never have been rejected. They should have been the perfect opportunity for Muhyiddin to put to rest the questions over his commitment to fight corruption,” said Pua in a statement today.
The questions follow the decision by the new attorney-general, Idrus Harun, allowing a discharge not amounting to acquittal for Riza Aziz over five counts of money laundering amounting to US$248 mil in misappropriated 1MDB funds, purportedly with the condition that Riza would return part of the amount to the tune of “several millions of ringgit.”
“The decision was ridiculous simply because the laundered assets relating to the charges on Riza were already seized or were being seized by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). In fact part of these funds appropriated from Red Granite, Riza Aziz’s movie production company have already been returned to Malaysia,” said Pua.
“Hence, the question all Malaysians are asking is, why discharge the case against Riza when the DOJ is already returning the laundered funds back to Malaysia?”
However, the question on 1MDB was rejected by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, citing sub judice as a reason.
“The prime minister has used the very same ‘sub judice’ excuse used during the Najib era to avoid replying to the question. The question of ‘sub judice’ does not apply simply because I’m not asking about the merits of the legal arguments in the case. All I’m asking is the position of the attorney-general on this case. It is extremely worrying for Malaysians that the prime minister has refused to answer this question,” said Pua.
He noted that there are concerns that this may be a signal that the Muhyiddin government is going soft on the parties directly implicated in the 1MDB scandal, due to being heavily dependent on the support of Najib and the Umno-affiliated MPs.
Pua also noted that the second question on the six MPs being charged with corruption was important, as it would indicate Muhyiddin’s resolve to fight corruption, and also respond to the public’s concerns over the stability of the PN government.
The six Umno lawmakers facing trial over graft are: Pekan MP Najib Razak, Bagan Datuk MP Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Putrajaya MP Tengku Adnan Mansor, Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan and Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin.
“The prime minister should be reminded that Najib has sacked him as the deputy prime minister as well as the deputy president of Umno in 2015 precisely because Muhyiddin became a vocal critic who questioned Najib on the 1MDB scandal,” said Pua.
“It is ironic that Muhyiddin, now the prime minister, has decided to play mute on 1MDB and indirectly ‘protect’ Najib, who is now a backbencher in Muhyiddin’s razor-thin majority government,” he added. – July 13, 2020
