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Dust over corruption allegations against Guan Eng’s RM2.8 million bungalow clearing up while monstrous sandstorm over Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals building up to explosion point

After a two-week relentless barrage by UMNO/BN strategists and cybertroopers, fully supported by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the police, the dust over the corruption allegations against DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng based on half-truths, lies and downright falsehoods, are clearing up while on the other hand, a monstrous sandstorm over Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals is building up to explosion point.

UMNO/BN allegations that Guan Eng had purchased the bungalow as a result of corruption arising from the sale of Taman Manggis land to KLDIC has been proved to be baseless, as the Taman Manggis land had been sold by the Penang State Government via open tender to the highest bigger.

The other UMNO/BN allegation that the Penang State Government had “robbed” the people of low-cost housing has also been proved to be baseless, with the declassification of the State Exco minutes of the Gerakan State Government in 2005 and 2007 which showed that the Gerakan State Government at the time had rejected the use of the Taman Manggis land for People’s Housing Project (PPR) and proposed instead a mixed project of shophouses and government quarters. In 2012, the DAP-led Penang government had commenced a separate low, low-medium cost and affordable housing less than 2 kilometers away in Jalan S P Chelliah which is nearly 10 times the size of the land in Taman Manggis.

The MACC and Police have swung into immediate action, with some 15 MACC officers descending on the Penang Chief Minister’s office in Komtar, conducting a search for some four hours and carting away boxes of documents.

If the MACC had shown similar alacrity in investigating Najib’s twin mega scandals, MACC should be sending hundreds of officers to swarm and besiege the Prime Minister’s Offices in Putrajaya, and subject individuals involved in the twin mega scandals to intensive interrogation sessions, at least round-the-clock 12-hour interrogation sessions.

Would MACC dare to interrogate the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on a round-the-clock 12-hour sessions? Continue reading “Dust over corruption allegations against Guan Eng’s RM2.8 million bungalow clearing up while monstrous sandstorm over Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals building up to explosion point”

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Authorities Investigating Malaysia’s 1MDB Fund Focusing on Bond Proceeds

BRADLEY HOPE in New York, SIMON CLARK in London and YANTOULTRA NGUI in Kuala Lumpur
Wall Street Journal
April 1, 2016

Investigators in three countries studying trail of cash from Malaysia to Abu Dhabi, offshore bank accounts

Authorities in three countries investigating a Malaysian government investment fund appear to be focusing on what happened to the proceeds of $3.5 billion in bonds sold by the fund in 2012, according to people familiar with the matter.

Investigators in the United Arab Emirates, Luxembourg and Switzerland are looking at the trail of cash from Malaysia to Abu Dhabi and to offshore bank accounts for a portion of the bond proceeds that appears to have gone missing, the people said.

Authorities in the U.A.E. have frozen the personal assets of and issued travel bans to two former executives of an Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund that had extensive dealings with the Malaysian fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, the people said.

The UAE’s actions indicate authorities have moved ahead in their probe into the dealings of Khadem Al Qubaisi and Mohammed Badawy Al Husseiny, both of whom had close connections to 1MDB, the people said. Mr. Al Qubaisi is an Emirati who was the managing director of an $80 billion Abu Dhabi investment fund, International Petroleum Investment Company. Mr. Al Husseiny, an American, was chief executive of another government investment company, Aabar Investments PJS, which is owned by IPIC.

The U.A.E.’s central bank issued the asset freezes, the people said, though it isn’t clear which U.A.E. government agency is running the investigation. Continue reading “Authorities Investigating Malaysia’s 1MDB Fund Focusing on Bond Proceeds”

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Luxembourg launches probe in Malaysia PM fund scandal

Luxemburger Wort – English Edition
1 April, 2016

Money laundering probe

(AFP) Luxembourg on Thursday launched a money laundering probe linked to a corruption scandal embroiling Malaysian Premier Najib Razak who is accused of using money in a state-run fund for his own purposes.

Najib, 62, has been under fire over allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from 1MDB, the now struggling state firm he founded, and his acceptance of a $681 million overseas payment.

Reports have also emerged of the luxurious lifestyles, lavish spending and jet-set travel arrangements of his family, stoking calls for his resignation.

The Luxembourg prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it had launched the probe “following revelations about the alleged diversion of funds from 1MDB”. Continue reading “Luxembourg launches probe in Malaysia PM fund scandal”

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1MDB Probe Shows Malaysian Leader Najib Spent Millions on Luxury Goods

By TOM WRIGHT and BRADLEY HOPE
Wall Street Journal
March 30, 2016

Accounts of prime minister paid out $15 million for clothes, jewelry and a car

HONOLULU, Hawaii—On Christmas Eve 2014, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak stepped onto Hawaii’s 18-hole Kaneohe Klipper course for a round of golf diplomacy with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Off the fairways, another side of Mr. Najib’s time in office was on display. Two days earlier, the prime minister’s credit card was charged $130,625 to Chanel in Honolulu, according to Malaysian investigation documents. A person who works at a Chanel store in the upscale Ala Moana Center recalls Mr. Najib’s wife shopping there just before Christmas.

The credit card was paid from one of several private bank accounts owned by Mr. Najib that global investigators believe received hundreds of millions of dollars diverted from a government investment fund set up by the prime minister in 2009. The fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, today is at the center of corruption probes by authorities in Malaysia and at least five other nations.

The Malaysian investigation documents, viewed by The Wall Street Journal, contain bank-transfer information that provides the most complete picture to date of the money that flowed through the prime minister’s accounts over a five-year period, the majority of it, investigators say, originating from 1MDB.

They show for the first time how some of the money in Mr. Najib’s accounts allegedly was used for personal expenses. That included $15 million in spending on clothes, jewelry and a car, according to the bank-transfer information, involving stores in the U.S., Malaysia, Italy and elsewhere. Continue reading “1MDB Probe Shows Malaysian Leader Najib Spent Millions on Luxury Goods”

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Deadly Najib Razak ‘gift’ scandal rocks Malaysia

Amanda Hodge
South East Asia correspondent
The Australian
APRIL 2, 2016

On November 1, 2011 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak received a personal windfall pledge so astonishing in size and nature that even close political allies have described it as “too good to be true”.

In language akin to that of a classic Nigerian email scam, Saudi Prince Saud Abdul Aziz Majid Al Saud praised Najib for his work in “governing Malaysia using Islamic principles”.

“In view of the friendship we have developed over the years and your new ideas as a modern Islamic leader, in addition to my earlier commitment, I hereby grant you an additional sum of up to $US375 million only (‘Gift’) which shall be remitted to you at such times and in such manner as I deem fit, either directly through my personal bank or through my instructed company bank accounts (such as Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners limited),” the mystery prince wrote on private office letterhead.

“You shall have absolute discretion to determine how the Gift shall be utilised …. This is merely a token gesture on my part but it is my way of contributing to the development of Islam to the world.”

“For clarification, I do not expect to receive any personal benefit whether directly or indirectly as a result of the Gift,” he added.

In an act of extraordinary foresight — that someone might eventually question the hundreds of millions flowing into the Malaysian Prime Minister’s personal bank account — the letter goes on to indemnify him from suggestion of wrongdoing.

“The Gift should not in any way be construed as an act of corruption since this is against the practice of Islam and I personally do not encourage such practices in any manner whatsoever.”

The letter, obtained by Four Corners and published for the first time this week, is signed HRH Prince Saudi Abdulaziz Al Saud, but there is no further clarification of who he might be in the sprawling pantheon of Saudi family dynasties. No address, no email, no telephone number. Continue reading “Deadly Najib Razak ‘gift’ scandal rocks Malaysia”

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Guan Eng is an open book prepared to answer all questions about his RM2.8 million bungalow purchase while Najib is a closed book running way from questions about his twin mega scandals!

There are many reasons why Datuk Seri Najib Razak should step down as Prime Minister.
The first is of course the imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has caused great hardships to low-income Malaysians sandwiched between falling incomes and rising cost of living.

There are many other reasons why Najib should step down as Prime Minister, including:

• Catapulting Malaysia to the stratosphere and internationally regarded as among the top ten nations in the world infamous for global corruption because of the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

• Refusal to come full and clean in accordance with the principles of accountability, transparency, democracy and good governance about the twin mega scandals, and even Parliament cannot be a venue to ask questions about Najib’s RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal. After a year of adverse international publicity, Malaysians and the world still do not have answers to basic questions like: Where the RM4.2 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal bank accounts from 2011 to 2014 came from and where the monies have gone to.

• Failure to sue international publications, especially Wall Street Journal and Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the former for the revelation of RM2.6 billion donations in Najib’s personal banking accounts and the latter for the latest revelation that donations deposited into Najib’s personal accounts were not just RM2.6 billion but exceeded RM4.2 billion from 2011 to 2014. Continue reading “Guan Eng is an open book prepared to answer all questions about his RM2.8 million bungalow purchase while Najib is a closed book running way from questions about his twin mega scandals!”

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Luxembourg Prosecutors Look for Embezzlement at Malaysia’s 1MDB

by Stephanie Bodoni/Shamim Adam
Bloomberg
March 31, 2016

Authorities in Luxembourg and Singapore are investigating transactions involving 1Malaysia Development Bhd. as the Malaysian state fund faces expanding probes into allegations of embezzlement and money laundering.

Prosecutors in Luxembourg said they started an investigation of 1MDB, as the fund is known, after finding “concrete clues” of embezzlement from companies owned by the fund via accounts in Singapore, Switzerland and Luxembourg. In response to questions about 1MDB, the Singapore central bank said it is conducting a “thorough review of various transactions as well as fund flows” through its banking system.

“The alleged facts concern in particular the amounts paid during the issuance of two bonds in May and October 2012,” Luxembourgish prosecutors said in an e-mailed statement. They will seek to “retrace the origin of four transfers during 2012 and one transfer in early 2013 for a total of several hundred million dollars, to an offshore company with an account in a bank in” Luxembourg. Continue reading “Luxembourg Prosecutors Look for Embezzlement at Malaysia’s 1MDB”

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Malaysia’s reputation at stake

The Australian
APRIL 1, 2016

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is doing neither himself nor the standing of his country any good by being so obdurate over the corruption charges that have been levelled against him. Lashing out at media (specifically Australian journalists) over reporting of the scandal and threatening members of the Malaysian Bar who have been critical of him with prosecution under draconian, colonial era sedition laws heighten concerns about his authoritarian government.

Mr Najib’s refusal to discuss, much less provide a credible explanation for, the $1 billion linked to the debt-laden sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad that landed in his personal bank accounts is unhelpful. He should realise that even in countries that are major regional economic and strategic partners such as Australia — which long has been strongly linked to Kuala Lumpur through the Five Power Defence Arrangements and was closely allied with it in helping in the aftermath of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 and MH17 disasters — there is deepening concern about the fallout from the scandal. The US, too, is showing signs of dismay. Continue reading “Malaysia’s reputation at stake”

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President of Malaysia’s Embattled 1MDB Says My Job Is Done Here

Shamim Adam/Laura Zelenko
Bloomberg
March 31, 2016

Former investment banker Arul Kanda took a job in Malaysia last year and walked into the crossfire of the country’s biggest political crisis since Prime Minister Najib Razak came to power in 2009.

Now, even as the finances of 1Malaysia Development Bhd. are being investigated in at least three countries, Kanda, president of the government-linked fund, says his job sorting out the organization is done.

“I only signed up for one-third of what I ended up doing,” he said in an interview on Wednesday at the fund’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. “I did not sign up for the investigations because that happened after I joined, and I definitely didn’t sign up for the extent of the comms-slash-politics that I had to deal with.”

Kanda was brought in in January 2015 when the debt-ridden fund was teetering on the edge of default. Within months the company became embroiled in allegations of financial irregularities that sparked probes in Malaysia, Singapore and Switzerland. 1MDB, whose advisory board is headed by Najib, has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Kanda echoes statements by Najib and other government officials that the allegations are unfounded and politically motivated. He said 1MDB hasn’t been contacted by any foreign legal authorities to help with investigations. Continue reading “President of Malaysia’s Embattled 1MDB Says My Job Is Done Here”

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The Rise and Fall of Tim Leissner, Goldman’s Big Man in Malaysia

Max Abelson/ Elffie Chew
Bloomberg
March 30, 2016

The prime minister of Malaysia had a message for the crowd at the Grand Hyatt San Francisco in September 2013. “We cannot have an egalitarian society — it’s impossible to have an egalitarian society,” Najib Razak said. “But certainly we can achieve a more equitable society.”

Tim Leissner, one of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s star bankers, enjoyed the festivities that night with model Kimora Lee Simmons, who’s now his wife. In snapshots she posted to Twitter, she’s sitting next to Najib’s wife, and then standing between him and Leissner. Everyone smiled.

The good times didn’t last. At least $681 million landed in the prime minister’s personal bank accounts that year, money his government has said was a gift from the Saudi royal family. The windfall triggered turmoil for him, investigations into the state fund he oversees and trouble for Goldman Sachs, which helped it raise $6.5 billion. Leissner, the firm’s Southeast Asia chairman, left last month after questions about the fund, his work on an Indonesian mining deal and an allegedly inaccurate reference letter.

Few corporations have mastered the mix of money and power like New York-based Goldman Sachs, whose alumni have become U.S. lawmakers, Treasury secretaries and central bankers. Leissner’s rise and fall shows how lucrative and fraught it can be when the bank exports that recipe worldwide. Continue reading “The Rise and Fall of Tim Leissner, Goldman’s Big Man in Malaysia”

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No one has made any allegation against Najib on timber or bauxite mining but Najib has yet to give satisfactory accounting for the twin mega scandals which have plunged Malaysia to international infamy as one the world’s top corrupt countries

In his speech at the Support Najib Solidarity Gathering in Kuantan on Sunday yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak declared that he was not “a thief of the citizens’ property” which he alleged was the portrayal by certain quarters who he charged “deliberately wanted to tarnish his image”.

He told the 5,000-people gathering of UMNO and Barisan Nasional members and leaders from 14 divisions in Pahang:

“You already know me. I am not like what is said by the people over there. I am not like that. I have looked after Pahang in the best possible manner.

“If I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago. I didn’t even take an inch, I didn’t take a single tree in Pahang, I didn’t take the bauxite mine, I didn’t take anything.

“I have not changed my stand when I became prime minister, I will not take the people’s property, don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property, I am the prime minister for the people.”

No one has made allegations against Najib whether about timber or bauxite mine but there is no doubt that Najib had still to give a satisfactory accounting for the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.5 billion “political donation” twin mega scandals, despite these scandals swirling around the Prime Minister for more than year.

It is Najib’s twin mega scandals which have undermined and even destroyed public confidence in the independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions in the country and dogged and hounded the country’s international image in the past year until we suffer the international notoriety of among the top corrupt nations in the world – whether by the international website, ForeignPolicy, the international magazine TIME or Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015. Continue reading “No one has made any allegation against Najib on timber or bauxite mining but Najib has yet to give satisfactory accounting for the twin mega scandals which have plunged Malaysia to international infamy as one the world’s top corrupt countries”

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Goldman-1MDB Probe Zeroes In on Bond Deals

Bradley Hope, Justin Baer and Tom Wright
The Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2016

Investigation focuses on whether Wall Street firm misled investors when it sold securities issued by Malaysian fund

U.S. authorities are investigating whether Goldman Sachs Group Inc. misled bondholders when the firm sold securities issued by a Malaysian government-investment fund that is at the center of a corruption scandal, according to a person familiar with the matter.

As part of an inquiry being examined by a U.S. grand jury, investigators are trying to determine if Goldman’s employees had reason to believe that some of the proceeds from bond deals done for the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., known as 1MDB, weren’t being used for their intended purpose, the person said. Federal authorities also are exploring whether Goldman’s hiring practices in the region violated U.S. anticorruption laws, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Goldman was part of a broad probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department. The investigation remains in its early stages, and neither Goldman nor 1MDB has been accused of wrongdoing. Continue reading “Goldman-1MDB Probe Zeroes In on Bond Deals”

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Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state

On 4th March 2016, an unprecedented and historic event took place in Kuala Lumpur – the signing and proclamation of the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia by 45 political and civil society leaders which bridged the political divide for the first time in 59 years of the nation’s history.

The Citizens’ Declaration called for the resignation of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister for having embroiled Malaysia in the 1MDB scandal, the worst mega scandal in the nation’s history, and plunging the country to be among the world’s worst countries in corruption.

For eight long months, Najib had not only refused to sue international news publications that have made serious allegations of corruption against him involving the 1MDB scandal, he had also undermined full and independent investigation into the twin mega scandals which include the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandal, as well as subverted the independence, professionalism and integrity of national institutions which include the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Police.

Even more important, the Citizens’ Declaration recognized that the multiple crisis afflicting Malaysia is not just because of an individual but a systemic one, which is why it also called for “democratic and institutional reforms” to restore the important principle of the separation of powers among the executive, legislature and judiciary to ensure the independence, credibility, professionalism and integrity of national institutions.

I have visited 97 parliamentary constituencies since my six-month suspension from Parliament on Oct. 22, 2015 for demanding answers to the simple questions as to the source, the donor or donors, of the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts before the 13th General Election in May 2013 and where the astronomical sums have gone to.

I wanted public feedback whether Malaysians agree that the Prime Minister should stop his tactics of procrastination and denial but should answer directly the teeming questions asked by the public and the world about Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” twin mega scandals.

In the past two weeks since March 4, in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Pahang, I had also sought public feedback on the historic national development on March 4, the Citizens’ Declaration to Save Malaysia. Continue reading “Let “Save Malaysia” be the uniting objective and vision of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or politics to stop Malaysia hurtling down the slippery slope towards a failed and a rogue state”

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‘Don’t think I am a crook’: Malaysia’s Najib Razak lashes out at critics

Lindsay Murdoch, South-East Asia correspondent
Sydney Morning Herald
March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak has declared he is not a crook despite refusing to explain how hundreds of millions of dollars turned up in his personal bank accounts.

“I will not take the people’s property, don’t think I am a crook … I am prime minister for the people,” he told a political rally in Kuantan, a city on the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

Facing a growing movement aiming to remove him from office, 62 year-old Mr Najib lashed out at his critics, saying they are trying to tarnish his image while he struggled to defend people’s welfare.

“You already know me, I am not like what is said by people over there … if I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago.”

Mr Najib has refused to clarify how almost $1 billion came to be deposited into his personal bank accounts in 2013 or to explain what happened to millions that remains unaccounted for. Continue reading “‘Don’t think I am a crook’: Malaysia’s Najib Razak lashes out at critics”

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Najib Razak: ‘Don’t think I am a crook’

Jeevan Vasagar
Financial Times
March 20, 2016

Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak, mired in a growing international scandal over state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, urged a rally of supporters at the weekend not to think of him as a “crook” as he fights to retain control of the ruling party.

Mr Najib said that he had never misappropriated public property. Malaysia’s government is battling pressure from global regulators over allegations of corruption linked to 1MDB. Continue reading “Najib Razak: ‘Don’t think I am a crook’”

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Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak Says He Isn’t a ‘Crook’

By YANTOULTRA NGUI andCELINE FERNANDEZ
Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2016

Malaysia leader embroiled in 1MDB scandal seeks to assure his supporters

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Prime Minister Najib Razak has told supporters that he isn’t a “crook,” amid continuing fallout from investigations into state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB.

Pressure has grown on Mr. Najib since The Wall Street Journal reported last year that government investigators had found that hundreds of millions of dollars had entered his personal bank accounts via banks, companies and other entities linked to 1MDB, whose advisory board he chairs.

The government probe didn’t name the source of the money or specify what happened to it. Global investigators said deposits totaling more than $1 billion—hundreds of millions more than identified by the Malaysian investigators—had flowed into Najib’s personal accounts, people familiar with the matter said earlier this month.

Mr. Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking money for personal gain, a stance he reiterated Saturday in a talk to more than 5,000 supporters and leaders of the ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, in his home state of Pahang.

“If I had wanted to rob, I would have robbed the forest here long ago,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying by the national news agency, Bernama. “I didn’t even take an inch, I didn’t take a single tree in Pahang, I didn’t take the bauxite mine, I didn’t take anything.”.

“I have not changed my stand when I became prime minister,’’ Mr. Najib was quoted as saying. “I will not take the people’s property. Don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property. I am the prime minister for the people.” Continue reading “Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak Says He Isn’t a ‘Crook’”

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I do not believe Najib is a crook, which is why he should come clean and full in Parliament on the twin mega scandals of RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion political donation

I do not believe that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is a crook, which is why he should come clean and full in Parliament this week to be accountable and transparent on the RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion political donation twin mega scandals.

Najib should not only make full use of the Ministerial winding up on the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the Royal Address to give full and satisfactory explanation on the twin mega scandals, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) must shake off the cloud of doubt about its credibility and professionalism when a “cari makan” Chairman had been foisted on it by conducting a full and comprehensive inquiry into Najib’s twin mega scandals.

The PAC should summon Najib as a key witness and give him an opportunity to answer all questions and doubts about the twin mega scandals. In fact, the PAC should take one step further – probe into all the information about the twin mega scandals which had appeared on the website Sarawak Report, highlighting those Sarawak Report articles and allegations which are baseless and untrue while confirming those allegations which are correct and factual.

In fact, the Najib government should unblock access to Sarawak Report as truth and honesty is the best defence to lies and falsehood. PAC should invite the Sarawak Report owner Claire Recastle to testify before the PAC, even paying for her expenses from UK and given her an assurance that no action would be taken against her by Malaysian authorities during her visit to Malaysia as guest and witness of PAC. Continue reading “I do not believe Najib is a crook, which is why he should come clean and full in Parliament on the twin mega scandals of RM55 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion political donation”

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Sad and tragic that when the world increasingly regards Malaysia under Najib premiership is topping the world in corruption scandals, Najib is not taking proactive action to initiate full and independent investigations into the twin mega scandals but could only make the weak lamentation “Please dont’ think I’m a crook”

Malaysians find it sad and tragic that at a time when the world increasingly regards Malaysia under the Najib premiership is topping the world in corruption scandals, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not taking pro-active action to initiate full, thorough and independent investigations into Najib’s twin mega scandals but could only make the weak lamentation: “Please don’t think I’m a crook”.

I have just seen the online news report of what the Prime Minister said in Kuantan this morning at a gathering of UMNO and Barisan Nasional members and leaders from 14 divisions in Pahang to express support for Najib, where Najib said: “Don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property, I am the prime minister for the people.”

It is sad and tragic because this is the first time in the 59-year history of the nation that the Prime Minister of Malaysia (Najib is the sixth PM in the country) had to make such a pathetic protestation.

Secondly, Najib’s lament will do nothing to dispel the growing global perception that Malaysia under the Najib premiership is topping the world in corruption scandals – with the international TIME magazine just citing Malaysia as the second worst example of current global corruption, reinforcing recent adverse developments like Malaysia falling four places in Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2015 which was released in late January and being ranked No. 3 in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015” by the international website, foreignpolicy.com at the end of last year. Continue reading “Sad and tragic that when the world increasingly regards Malaysia under Najib premiership is topping the world in corruption scandals, Najib is not taking proactive action to initiate full and independent investigations into the twin mega scandals but could only make the weak lamentation “Please dont’ think I’m a crook””

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Najib’s Jekyll and Hyde playbook at work again – on the day Najib presented the sweet face of reason to Parliament to let it decide on the twin mega scandals, his Ministers were already playing hard ball refusing to respond to questions about the twin mega scandals

It was classic Najib from his Jekyll and Hyde playbook in Parliament yesterday.

On the same day that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak presented the sweet face of reason to Parliament saying to let it decide on his twin mega scandals, his Ministers were already playing hard ball refusing to respond to questions about the twin mega scandals.

During question time yesterday morning, Najib said he will let the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) decide on his twin mega scandals – the RM55 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals – but shortly after, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said announced that the Federal Government will not respond to any parliamentary question on the RM2.6 billion deposited in Najib’s personal banking accounts, invoking the sub judice rule on the ground that it was now the subject of a judicial review application by the Malaysian Bar.

In one fell swoop, Azalina had nullified and negatived the assurance Najib had implicitly given to Parliament earlier the same day, that the Prime Minister had nothing whatsoever to hide in the twin mega scandals, that the attacks against him on the twin mega scandals were “orchestrated” and that he would let the PAC and Parliament decide on both issues to uphold the “process of accountability”.

How can PAC and Parliament decide on Najib’s twin mega scandals to uphold the “process of accountability” when he and his Ministers refused from yesterday to respond, whether during Question Time or in the Ministerial winding-up debate next week, to issues raised by MPs on the twin mega scandals? Continue reading “Najib’s Jekyll and Hyde playbook at work again – on the day Najib presented the sweet face of reason to Parliament to let it decide on the twin mega scandals, his Ministers were already playing hard ball refusing to respond to questions about the twin mega scandals”

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Was Azalina acting as the Speaker’s Speaker when she unilaterally and arbitrarily announced that questions on Najib’s RM2.6 billion political donation scandal can no longer be raised in Parliament?

Was the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Azalina Othman Said acting as the Speaker’s Speaker when she unilaterally and arbitrarily announced yesterday that questions on Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s RM2.6 billion political donation scandal can no longer be raised in Parliament because of sub judice arising from the Bar Council’s suit against the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali?

The Bar is seeking a judicial review of Apandi’s decision to clear Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation and the RM42 million SRC International cases.

Azalina quoted Standing Order 23(1) which states that “a question shall not be so drafted as to be likely to prejudice a case under trial, or be asked to any matter which is sub judice”.

Firstly, Azalina has committed a grave contempt of the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, usurping his powers as Speaker as under the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders only the Speaker can decide if a matter is sub judice, whether under Standing Orders 23(1) or 36(2) with regard to questions or debates, and even then only after the issue has arisen whether in the course of question time or debate.

Azalina should not exceed her bounds as Minister in charge of parliamentary affairs for the government, which does not give her powers to be the Speaker’s Speaker!

Secondly, the Bar’s suit against the Attorney-General on Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation scandal cannot justify a blanket ban on the subject of the RM2.6 billion donation scandal in Parliament, whether during question time or in debates, although nothing would make Najib, Azalina and the Ministers happier than to have a total ban to prohibit raising the RM2.6 billion donation subject in Parliament. Continue reading “Was Azalina acting as the Speaker’s Speaker when she unilaterally and arbitrarily announced that questions on Najib’s RM2.6 billion political donation scandal can no longer be raised in Parliament?”