Last night, at the DAP Nibong Tebal “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang and Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah, I asked for the umpteenth time when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will stand up in Parliament and inform the nation whether for the first time in the 58-year history of the nation, the country’s Prime Minister is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States as to whether he is a “kleptocrat” in connection with his RM2.6 billion “donation” and RM50 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals?
Since the publication of the New York Times “scoop” on Sept. 11 of FBI and US Department of Justice investigation of Najib under the DOJ’s Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative 2010, Najib had been avoiding the subject like the plague.
However, Najib cannot continue to keep mum and run away from this subject especially after his meeting with United States President Barack Obama, who subsequently said he had raised the importance of transparency, accountability and rooting out corruption with Najib, though he would not comment on investigations against Najib as he would not touch on ongoing probes even on the US soil.
It is most demeaning and degrading for the Malaysian Prime Minister to be “lectured” by the US President on the importance of transparency, accountability and rooting out corruption – something Obama would never dream of doing in his meetings with the Prime Ministers of Japan or Singapore for instance.
This is because the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe or Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong could simply shut up Obama by pointing out that in the 2014 Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Japan is ranked No. 15 and Singapore No. 7, while United States is placed lower at No. 17.
Najib could not shut Obama up, not only because Malaysia’s is ranked No. 50 as compared to the United States No. 17 in the 2014 TI CPI, but also because of the New York Times revelation that Najib is being probed by FBI under the US Department of Justice Kleptocracy Assets Recovery Initiative 2010 in connection with his twin mega scandals.
Najib cannot continue to keep mum on whether he is being probed by US FBI as a kleptocrat as conscientious and patriotic Members of Parliament from both sides of the House have a right to demand an answer from Najib in the current meeting of Parliament.
However, apart from saying “yes” or “no” as to whether he is being investigated by FBI as to whether he is “kleptocrat”, who have assets directly or indirectly in the United States which the US government could confiscate and return to the Malaysian government as has happened with other “kleptocrats” in other corruption-ridden nations, there is a third answer which could be given by Najib in the current Parliament.
This is for Najib to answer that he just does not know.
Will Najib answer “Yes”, “No” or “I do not know”, or will he just play dumb to the allegations that he is being investigated by the FBI in the United States although more than two-and-a-half months have elapsed since the New York Times report on the issue on Sept. 11?
The Public Accounts Committee Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin has given a very vivid and dramatic account of the disease afflicting Malaysian politics, including Parliament when he was asked by the media last Wednesday why the PAC was not summoning Prime Minister Najib in the PAC investigations into the 1MDB.
Hasan asked the media not the pursue the issue as he also had to “cari makan”.
It is this “cari makan” disease of UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders, causing them to close their eyes and shut their mouths about worsening corruption and abuses of power in Malaysia, highlighted by Najib’s twin mega scandals, which are a bane to Malaysia, aggravating the political and moral crisis in the country.
The “Mana RM2.6 billion?” nation-wide campaign is in fact political consciousness campaign to wipe out the “Cari Makan” disease afflicting political leaders in the country, for their KPI must be to ensure that there is accountability, transparency and good governance in Malaysia to ensure that 30 million Malaysians can “cari makan” and not a system where the top priority of political leaders, whether Ministers or MPs, is to “cari makan” for themselves, at the expense of the Malaysian people!
(Speech at the DAP Semenyih “Solidarity with Lim Kit Siang and Mana RM2.6 billion?” ceramah at Semenyih on Sunday, 22nd November 2015 at 8 pm)