Call on Najib to convene special Parliament meeting before National Day on August 31 to debate the country’s burning issues, including Najib’s twin global scandals, the NSC Act and worsening racial/religious polarisation highlighted by Pahang mufti’s incendiary “kafir harbi” statement

I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene a special Parliament meeting before National Day on August 31 to debate the burning issues in the country, including Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin global scandals, the National Security Council (NSC) Act and the worsening racial/religious polarisation in the country highlighted by the Pahang mufti’s incendiary “kafir harbi” statement.

Parliament adjourned on May 26 and is next scheduled to reconvene on Oct. 17 – a recess of some five months.

In an era of fast-changing developments, especially with many burning national issues crying out for answers and solutions, it is the height of irresponsibility for Parliament to adjourn for as long as some five months and this is why Najib should convene a special meeting of Parliament before National Day on August 31, where the two newly-elected MPs from Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar can officially take their oath of office.

There are many national burning issues awaiting answers or resolutions, and I will touch on three of them.

First, there are Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin global scandals.

There are those who think that Najib’s twin mega scandals have been buried good and proper as a result of BN’s victories in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, and if this is also Najib’s thinking, he will find that this may be his greatest mistake in his political life.

Najib’s twin mega scandals are not Malaysian-level scandals which can be swept under the carpet by the powers-that-be in Malaysia by intimidating or silencing journalists and critics or by closing down local publications, but global scandals with at least seven countries carrying out independent investigations into the the multi-billion ringgit 1MDB embezzlement, money-laundering and corruption at the global level, and which are completely outside the reach and ability of the Malaysian Prime Minister to influence or close them down.

In fact, in the week after the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections which UMNO/BN leaders are claiming should bring an end to the controversy over the 1MDB and donation twin mega scandals, there have been at least three 1MDB developments making global news, including the role of the Penang billionaire Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal.

As the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB has only revealed the “tip of the iceberg” and even its weak recommendations had not been fully implemented by the Najib government, a special Parliament meeting is warranted to deal with the worst global scandal in the nation’s history.

Secondly, Parliament must also convene urgently to deal with the National Security Council (NSC) Act, as both the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General had not acted on the advice of the Conference of Rulers to refine the NSC Act before it became law, which both of them had undertaken to do in February.

Thirdly, the worsening racial and religious polarisation in the country, highlighted by the Pahang state mufti’s incendiary and seditious statement classifying non-Muslim Malaysians as “kafir harbi” who could be slain.

What is the Prime Minister and the Cabinet’s stand on the Pahang mufti’s statement, and in particular its appearance on the front-page of the UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia?

If I had made a similar statement suggesting that Malaysians, whether Malays or non-Malays, could be easily slain, I would be arrested within a matter of hours for commission of a serious criminal offence – and rightly so.

Do we still have the rule of law in Malaysia?

In fact, going by the Pahang mufti’s statement, all the first five Prime Ministers would have fallen under his condemnation, for Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah had never agreed with PAS’ hudud proposals.

Are the first five Prime Ministers so guilty and culpable that they would deserve similar condemnation as made by the Pahang mufti?

The Pahang mufti’s incendiary and seditious statement on “kafir harbi” would give an extra fillip to the secessionist movement for Sarawak and Sabah, which would already have been greatly encouraged by the Brexit victory in the UK referendum for the United Kingdom to leave the European Community.

Is this what UMNO and Barisan Nasional want, as the Pahang mufti’s incendiary and seditious statement on “kafir harbi” was given front-page treatment by the UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia?

It is no exaggeration to say that the Pahang state mufti’s seditious and incendiary statement on “kafir harbi” is the most irresponsible statement made by any state mufti in the nation’s history, and unless immediately rectified, will cast a long shadow over the 59th National Day celebrations on August 31 and 53rd Malaysia Day celebrations on Sept. 16.

(Speech at the Johor Jaya kopitiam ceramah in Johor Bahru on Saturday, 25th June 2016 at 11 am)