Former Finance Minister Husni Hanadzlah is the only BN MP who had put in a parliamentary question out of the 1,800 oral and written questions in the 25-day budget meeting on the 1MDB scandal

I had several shocks when going through the Parliamentary Order Paper for the 25-day budget meeting of Parliament from Oct. 17 to 24th November.

One is that PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private member’s bill motion is item No. 4, which means that after the Youth and Sports Minister, Khairy Jamaluddin’s motion to congratulate the Malaysian Olympians and Para-Olympians for their sterling performances in the two recent world sporting events; the Advocates (Sabah) (Amendment) Bill 2016 and a Treasury motion to convert a RM500 million loan to Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank) to equity, Hadi’s private member’s motion may come up for debate and voting on Tuesday, or even on Monday!

This will lead to be tectonic shift of the fundamental basis and principles of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and the Malaysia Agreement 1963, with far-reaching consequences not only the nation-building process but to the very survival and integrity of the Malaysian federation since 1963.

Another surprise and shock is the lowly and irrelevant position given to the one issue which had made Malaysia infamous internationally – the 1MDB global financial scandal which had catapulted the nation into world rank of a “global kleptocracy”.

The 1MDB global scandal should the first item of parliamentary business when Members of Parliament reconvened on Monday 17th October, after a break of five long months, when the country’s reputation was battered all over the world in a tide of negative and adverse international developments about the 1MDB scandal, the worst being the July 20 lawsuit initiated by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to forfeit over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland from over US$3 billion international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of 1MDB funds as well as the crackdowns by the Singapore and Swiss financial regulatory authorities.

But from the Order Paper for the forthcoming 25-day meeting of Parliament, it would appear that the 1MDB global scandal is not a major concern or worry for Malaysia at all – and totally absent from the radar of the Malaysian Government.

No Malaysian can claim to be a patriot or love Malaysia if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by the disgraceful appellation of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy” – as if Malaysians are happy to be ruled by thieves and robbers.

In fact, I would go so far as to say that no Malaysian is fit to be a Member of Parliament or Minister in the country if he or she is not ashamed and outraged by appellation of Malaysia as as a “global kleptocracy”.

I am really shocked that not only is the 1MDB global scandal not the first item of parliamentary business, no MPs from MCA, Gerakan, MIC, or Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties dared to ask a single question about the 1MDB global scandal!

Is it because they have got all the answers or they are blissfully convinced that the 1MDB global financial scandal is no scandal at all?

There are seven oral questions on the 1MDB global scandal on the first day of Parliament on Monday, 17th October out of the 56 oral questions listed, but they were listed No 24, 25, 29, 30, 32, 44 and 49, which means they will never see the “light of day” to be answered on the floor of Dewan Rakyat, as only the first six to ten questions would be answered in the 90 minutes of Question Time every day.

Some of these oral questions on 1MDB slated for the “parliamentary museum” not to answered on the floor of Dewan Rakyat on Monday include:

1. Dr. Ko Chung Sen (Kampar) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan:

(a) sama ada beliau telah membaca sepenuhnya tuntutan mahkamah oleh Jabatan Kehakiman (DOJ) di Amerika Syarikat untuk merampas asset bernilai AS$1 billion yang dibeli dengan wang yang diambil daripada 1MDB; dan

(b) samada Perdana Menteri boleh mengesahkan mana-mana butiran di dalam saman Jabatan Kehakiman (DOJ) tersebut adalah tersesat dan tidak benar terhadap mana-mana individu atau pegawai kerajaan Malaysia.

2. Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan berikutan dengan pendedahan yang di buat oleh Department of Justice (DOJ) bahawa terdapat penglibatan Malaysian Official 1 (MO1) dalam kes sivil Red Granite, apakah Kerajaan Malaysia telah mengenalpasti siapakah MO1 dan tindakan yang diambil terhadap MO1 susulan daripada pendedahan tersebut dan jika tiada tindakan mengapa.

3. Tuan Wong Chen (Kelana Jaya) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan sama ada “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) yang disebut dalam saman sivil Jabatan Kehakiman Amerika Syarikat berkenaan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) merujuk kepada Perdana Menteri sendiri.

4. Puan Alice Lau Kiong Yieng (Lanang) minta Perdana Menteri menyatakan: –

(a) siapa “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) yang disebut dalam laporan Jabatan Keadilan (DOJ) Amerika Syarikat pada 20/7/2016 dan adakah siasatan dijalankan keatas MO1; dan
(b) tindakan kerajaan berhubong laporan DOJ.

Altogether 1,283 oral questions and 543 questions for written answer had been submitted for the 25-day Parliamentary meeting, but all the questions about the 1MDB scandal had come from the Pakatan Harapan MPs – except for one from an UMNO backbencher.

This is quite a surprise. On Thursday, November 17, Question No. 18 is a question from Husni Hanadzlah “minta Menteri Kewangan menyatakan adakah 1MDB dan SRC mencapai matlamat penuhubannya”.

This question by Husni speaks volumes. In fact, Husni should be answering his own question, as he was second Finance Minister until recently when he quit the Cabinet when he could not stand the stress and strain of defending the indefensible in the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal – which was why he gave up his assignment as the only Minister to be appointed Cabinet Spokesman for the 1MDB scandal in the seven-year sad saga of the 1MDB global scandal.

But where are the questions from the MPs from all the other UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah/Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties on the 1MDB scandal?

Their silence and cowardice from raising a single question on the 1MDB kleptocratic scandal raises the issue whether they are Malaysian patriots and really love Malaysia, when they can be immune to the shame and outrage all patriotic Malaysians must feel over the infamy of Malaysia being labelled as a “global kleptocracy”.

The first parliamentary business on Monday in the 25-day Budget Parliament should be a government motion, preferably moved by the Prime Minister himself, to debunk and refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy.

It is still not too late for the Prime Minister to move such a motion as the first item of parliamentary business when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.

I suggest that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak summon an emergency meeting of Cabinet so that he could move such a motion in the first day of the Budget Parliament to debunk and refute the damning allegation that Malaysia has become a global kleptocracy under his administration, and in particular, to refute all the negative connotations of being identified as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1” (MO 1) in the US Department of Justice lawsuit for the forfeiture of US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland arising from the international embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of over US$3 billion of 1MDB funds.

Unless Najib wants to be a “sitting duck” of all the international allegations about global embezzlement, misappropriation and money-laundering of billions of ringgit of 1MDB funds?

(Speech at the DAP Kukup Solidarity Dinner held in Kukup, Johor on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 9 pm)