Najib should begin a 1MDB Nothing2Hide confession starting with revelation what has happened to the RM3 billion which were “overprized” in acquisition of 15 power stations for RM18 billion

The Wall Street Journal expose five days ago has probably started the end-game for the six-year RM42 billion 1MDB scandal with attention focussed on the question which the parliamentary duo, DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli, joined by former Prime Minister Tun Mahahtir, have repeatedly asked: “Where have the 1MDB billions disappeared to? Show us the money!”

The Wall Street Journal report, “Fund Controversy Threatens Malaysia’s Leader”, alleged that 1MDB had bought Genting Group’s power assets at an inflated price, and the group then made substantial donations to the 1MDB-linked charity YR1M.

YR1M had then allegedly bankrolled BN’s 13th general election, and is now funding social programmes in Sarawak where state elections are widely anticipated.

The Wall Street Journal reported last Friday 1MDB made overpriced purchase of power assets from Genting Group in 2012.

The price, which was equivalent to about US$740 million at the time, came to RM2.3 billion, around five times what it was worth.

Genting later reported it had a 1.9 billion ringgit extraordinary gain on this sale, implying a value for its stake in the power plant of just 400 million ringgit – or less than one-fifth what 1MDB paid for it. Continue reading “Najib should begin a 1MDB Nothing2Hide confession starting with revelation what has happened to the RM3 billion which were “overprized” in acquisition of 15 power stations for RM18 billion”

Ministers have suddenly become prolific letter writers but why is there no detailed rebuttal to serious WSJ allegations of corruption and gross abuses of power about 1MDB billions of ringgit bankrolled for 13GE?

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Cabinet Ministers have suddenly become prolific letter writers to international publications but why is there no detailed rebuttal to serious Wall Street Journal allegations of corruption and gross abuses of power four days ago about 1MDB billions of ringgit bankrolled for the 13th General Election campaigning two years ago?

Two weeks ago, the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Anifah Aman wrote an Open Letter to New York Times protesting against the interview by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir who touched on the 1MDB scandal, UMNO and accusations against Najib and expressing regret at Mahathir’s action “to undermine his own country through the international media as part of a personal political vendetta”.

In one fell swoop, the nation’s elder statesman and the longest-serving Prime Minister in the nation’s history has been reduced to an anti-national digit on the same level as other critics of the government-of-the-day who are accused of ignoble and even disloyal motives for bad-mouthing the government and the country.

It is the irony of ironies that Mahathir himself had himself made such allegations against his critics when he was Prime Minister for 22 years. Continue reading “Ministers have suddenly become prolific letter writers but why is there no detailed rebuttal to serious WSJ allegations of corruption and gross abuses of power about 1MDB billions of ringgit bankrolled for 13GE?”

Scrap the 1MDB roadshows as they will end up as disastrously as the “Nothing2Hide” 1MDB Forum

One of the most accident-prone government front-benchers, the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan announced yesterday that nation-wide roadshows to explain the 1MDB scandal and other government controversies will be launched at the state levels during the second week of Syawal.

I would advise the Federal government to scrap the 1MDB nation-wide roadshows as they will end up as disastrously as the “Nothing2Hide” 1MDB Forum at the Putra World Trade Centre in KL on June 5 where the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak ignominiously backed out of appearance because of Mahathir’s presence, unless Najib could immediately explain whether 1MDB funds had been misused for the UMNO/BN campaign in the 13th General Election, and are now being spent and misused in Sarawak for the forthcoming Sarawak state polls.

Najib’s thunderous silence on the third day of the Wall Street Journal expose on Friday that the 1MDB funds running into billions of ringgit had been used to bankroll his 13th General Election campaign does not brook well that the Prime Minister’s credibility can recover with any “Public Relations” gimmicry like 1MDB nation-wide roadshows.

Why is Najib incapable of giving a detailed and convincing rebuttal to the Wall Street Journal allegation that one “trick” of using 1MDB billions of ringgit to bankroll Najib’s 13GE election campaign was through the artifice of 1MDB making overpriced purchase of power assets from Genting Group in 2012 – paying RM2.3 billion or around five times for a power plant that was only worth RM400 million, with Genting make a subsequent donation to a foundation controlled by Najib for the 13GE campaigning purposes. Continue reading “Scrap the 1MDB roadshows as they will end up as disastrously as the “Nothing2Hide” 1MDB Forum”

Malaysia’s national per capita income increased 25-fold from 1970 to 2014 but Malaysia’s financial scandal increased by more than 63,000-fold from RM66 million in 1975 to RM42 billion today

When introducing the Eleven Malaysia Plan in Parliament last month, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak boasted that Malaysia’s national per capita income increased 25-fold from 1970 to 2014, rising from the ranks of a low-income economy in the 1970s to a high middle-income economy today.

What Najib did not tell Malaysians is that Malaysia’s financial scandal had increased by more than 63,0000-fold from the RM66 million Bank Rakyat scandal in 1975 to the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal of today!

No wonder that even the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir, who during his 22-year administration from 1981 to 2003, had chalked up a long series of financial scandals probably costing the country some RM100 billion, has come to forefront to demand accountability, transparency and good governance from the Najib premiership in utter disgust at the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history – the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal.

In the escalating Najib-Mahathir tussle for accountability, transparency and good governance over the 1MDB scandal, DAP leaders have been proven right that allegations of malpractices, abuses of power and even corruption in the 1MDB scandal in the past few years with DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua and the PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli spearheading the 1MDB exposes in the last four years had hit the nail on the head about the enormity and iniquity of the 1MDB scandal. Continue reading “Malaysia’s national per capita income increased 25-fold from 1970 to 2014 but Malaysia’s financial scandal increased by more than 63,000-fold from RM66 million in 1975 to RM42 billion today”

Hopes for achievement of PR Common Policy Objectives without PR in 14GE is not impossible as UMNO/BN in self-confessed terminal stages from being in “wad biasa”, “wad kecemasan”, “ICU’ and “tanah kubur”

Today is special for two reasons.

Firstly, it is Duanwu Festival, which the Chinese celebrate with zongzi or dumpling. It commemorates the death of the poet and minister Qu Yuan 2,355 years ago in ancient state of Chu during the Warring States period of the Zhou Dynasty, for his sacrifices in his principled stand against corruption and abuses of power.

Malaysia is today mired in the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history, the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, with new exposes almost everyday highlighting the lack of good governance, accountability and transparency in an administration which had at first boasted about National Transformation Programme and commitment to combat corruption and abuses of power in high political places.

The latest chapter in the 1MDB scandal is the Wall Street Journal expose yesterday alleging that the 1MDB funds running into billions of ringgit were used to bank-roll Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib’s 13th General Election campaign.

Najib’s extraordinary and ominous silence, coupled with the failure by the Prime Minister either to announce his readiness to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to undergo full investigation on the Wall Street Journal allegations or institution of legal suit against Wall Street Journal for defamation signify that Najib does not lead a Nothing2Hide administration as he seems to have a lot of things to hide.

If Qu Yuan had been alive today, he would be in the forefront against such government abuses regardless of the cost to his life and future. Continue reading “Hopes for achievement of PR Common Policy Objectives without PR in 14GE is not impossible as UMNO/BN in self-confessed terminal stages from being in “wad biasa”, “wad kecemasan”, “ICU’ and “tanah kubur””

Najib cannot keep silent about the serious allegations by Wall Street Journal that 1MDB funds running into billions of ringgit were used to bankroll his 13th General Election campaign

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot keep silent about the serious allegations by Wall Street Journal yesterday that the 1MDB funds running into billions of ringgit were used to bank-roll his 13th General Election campaign.

A Wall Street Journal report yesterday said this was achieved by having 1MDB make overpriced purchase of power assets from Genting Group in 2012.

Genting then made a donation to a foundation controlled by Najib before the 13th general election and it claimed the funds were used for campaigning.

The WSJ report said:

“The 1MDB fund in October 2012 acquired a Genting unit that owned a 75 percent stake in a 720-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Kuala Lumpur.

“The price, which was equivalent to about US$740 million at the time, came to RM2.3 billion.

“A few months after the sale, a unit of Genting called Genting Plantations Bhd made a donation of about US$10 million to a Najib-linked charity, according to a spokesperson for Genting Plantations.”

Continue reading “Najib cannot keep silent about the serious allegations by Wall Street Journal that 1MDB funds running into billions of ringgit were used to bankroll his 13th General Election campaign”

Power Struggle in Malaysia Pits Former Premier Against a Protégé

By THOMAS FULLER and LOUISE STORY
New York Times
JUNE 17, 2015
Photo

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia — Malaysia’s governing party is at war with itself, embroiled in a power struggle that is destabilizing the country and threatening the party’s nearly six-decade stretch of uninterrupted governance.

The battle has revealed itself publicly in a nasty spat between two political titans. Mahathir Mohamad, a former prime minister who turns 90 next month, is the chief architect of a political insurgency aiming to oust the man he helped put into office six years ago, Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Having lost none of the combativeness honed during more than two decades in power, Mr. Mahathir is pressing allegations of malfeasance in a sovereign wealth fund, criticizing the “lavish” lifestyle of the prime minister’s wife, and has resurrected troubling questions about the murder of a Mongolian woman, the mistress of a former top aide to Mr. Najib.

“I’ve had quite a long time in government, and I’ve learned a few things,” Mr. Mahathir said in an interview at his office on Wednesday in Putrajaya, the administrative capital he built from scratch when he was prime minister.

Mr. Najib “wants to leave his own legacy,” he said. “But what he does is verging on criminal.” Continue reading “Power Struggle in Malaysia Pits Former Premier Against a Protégé”

Najib staged a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance when he absented himself from in Parliament yesterday to avoid having to personally answer the questions about the biggest financial scandal in nation’s history

In ten days, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak staged a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance when he absented himself from Parliament yesterday to avoid having to personally answer the questions about the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history.

Not only Members of Parliament from both sides of Parliament, but ordinary Malaysians are entitled to ask why the Prime Minister can give a special briefing to over 1,000 UMNO division information chiefs and selected NGO representatives on Sunday on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, but he was not prepared to give similar briefing in Parliament the following day during the winding-up of the debate on the 11th Malaysia Plan?

Is this because the Sunday briefing for UMNO division information chiefs and selected NGO representatives was a tame one-way traffic and monologue while Najib would not be able to have a docile and timid audience in Parliament, especially as MPs, in particular DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli would have endless minefields for the Prime Minister to negotiate if there is a genuine free-for-all in the Dewan Rakyat on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal? Continue reading “Najib staged a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance when he absented himself from in Parliament yesterday to avoid having to personally answer the questions about the biggest financial scandal in nation’s history”

Is Najib giving an undertaking to nation that he and all his Ministers will resign and retire from politics if the 1MDB scandal and all-related 1MDB issues are not resolved by the end of the year?

It has been reported that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, has given his assurance to some 1,000 Umno divisional leaders and selected representatives of NGOs yesterday that the controversy surrounding the state investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) will be resolved by year-end.

This is indeed good news, but instead of broadcasting from the rooftops, the Prime Minister seems to be very coy about it, and Datuk Seri Najib Razak not only made it at a closed-door function but the report was not an announcement from the horse’s mouth but in the form of a leaked version by one or two persons who attended Najib’s special briefing on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal – which would allow for a subsequent denial of its veracity.

Yesterday I asked why Najib, as the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions, in law and in fact, was prepared to brief UMNO division leaders and selected NGO representatives but not in Parliament on the 1MDB controversy.

Malaysians are still waiting for Najib’s answer. Continue reading “Is Najib giving an undertaking to nation that he and all his Ministers will resign and retire from politics if the 1MDB scandal and all-related 1MDB issues are not resolved by the end of the year?”

Why is Najib, as final approving authority for 1MDB, in law and in fact, prepared to brief UMNO division representatives but not Parliament on 1MDB controversy?

The Sunday Star reported that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will brief UMNO division information chiefs today on the 1MDB controversy as he steps up efforts to counter mounting attacks against him on the issue.

The question that immediately comes to mind is why Najib, who is the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions, in law and in fact, prepared to brief UMNO division representatives but not Parliament on the 1MDB controversy?

Najib is the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions in law and in fact because Najib is responsible in law as 1MDB is a government company and as the Prime Minister as well as Finance Minister he must accept full and final responsibility for all of 1MDB actions although he may not be responsible for its day-to-day operations; and responsible in fact, because under Clause 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association Agreement (M&A), the Prime Minister must give his written approval for any of 1MDB deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring. Continue reading “Why is Najib, as final approving authority for 1MDB, in law and in fact, prepared to brief UMNO division representatives but not Parliament on 1MDB controversy?”

Najib should go on leave as Prime Minister and Finance Minister to allow for a full-fledged investigation into 1MDB by RCI and return to office after he has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should go on leave as Prime Minister and Finance Minister to allow for a full-fledged investigation into the 1MDB by a Royal Commission of Inquiry and return to office after he has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal.

There is no need for Najib to resign as Prime Minister, as proposed by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir that Najib must first resign as Prime Minister to allow full investigation into the 1MDB finances, and that Najib can come back as Prime Minister to lead the Barisan Nasional in the next election “if no crime can be detected and all the money is returned”.

I agree with Mahathir that so long as Najib is still exercising the office and powers of Prime Minister, no proper investigation can be made.

Mahathir should know as during his 22 years as Prime Minister, there could be no proper investigation into the string of financial scandals estimated to cost the country over RM100 billion under his premiership, simply because Mahathir was during this period the Prime Minister of the day.

I do not think it is necessary for Najib to resign as Prime Minister, as taking extended leave would suffice. Continue reading “Najib should go on leave as Prime Minister and Finance Minister to allow for a full-fledged investigation into 1MDB by RCI and return to office after he has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal”

Pandikar should agree to an urgent motion in Parliament to allow televised PAC hearings on 1MDB scandal as a first step to parliamentary reforms in Malaysia

Members of Parliament from both sides of the House are in full support of the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Aman Mulia to push for parliamentary reforms to eradicate Parliament’s negative image of “rubber stamp” of the Executive and to ensure separation of powers is in place.

The Speaker should not wait until next year to test out whether proposals for parliamentary reforms could be accepted and implemented by the Executive, as parliamentary reforms which meet immediate public needs should be carried out without any delay.

One such immediate parliamentary reform is for the Public Accounts Committee hearing particularly on the biggest scandal in the country – the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal – to be held in public and to bde televised live, as is the position of Dewan Rakyat proceedings. Continue reading “Pandikar should agree to an urgent motion in Parliament to allow televised PAC hearings on 1MDB scandal as a first step to parliamentary reforms in Malaysia”

Stop all pretences – Najib should exorcise the haunting presence of Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal by giving a full account to Parliament of the latter’s role and influence in the nation’s biggest financial scandal

In his TV1 interview on “1MDB – Where is the money?” on Wednesday night, which failed to answer the subject of the topic but piqued greater public interest and concern about the whereabouts of the 1MDB billions, the second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah coyly avoided giving answers on Jho Low and his involvement in the debt-ridden 1MDB, asking “What’s the point of glamorising his name?”

Husni should know that he is incapable of adding to Jho Low’s glamour, as the Penang-born businessman has achieved what the second Finance Minister is incapable of – being the top attraction of a five-part feature by New York Times in February on the influx of global money which had fuelled the American city’s high-end real estate boom. And this is without mention of Jho Low’s life in the high society of the West.

The issue at hand is not about Jho Low’s glamour but the government’s accountability and transparency in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, particularly about Jho Low’s role and influence.

Until recently, the Cabinet, Parliament and nation were kept in the dark about the most important facet of the 1MDB scandal – that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had right from the beginning of the establishment of 1MDB in 2009 been the final approving authority for all 1MBD deals, transactions and investments, which means that the Save 1MDB Roadmap passed by the Cabinet on May 29 was really a Save Najib Roadmap!

Another important facet of the 1MDB scandal was Jho Low’s role and influence not only in the creation of the 1MDB, but its ballooning in six years to pile up a debt of RM42 billion. Continue reading “Stop all pretences – Najib should exorcise the haunting presence of Jho Low in the 1MDB scandal by giving a full account to Parliament of the latter’s role and influence in the nation’s biggest financial scandal”

Najib’s “Nothing2Hide” forum has infamously boomeranged into a Public Relations disaster and its time the Prime Minister have a “tell all” session in Parliament to demonstrate that he has really nothing to hide in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “Nothing2Hide” forum scheduled this morning has infamously boomeranged into a Public Relations disaster and its time the Prime Minister have a “tell all” session in Parliament to demonstrate that he has really nothing to hide in the RM42 billion scandal.

Never before in the nation’s history has the Prime Minister become the butt of national jokes, to the extent that Najib’s failure to show up at the 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” forum this morning has become an instant and foremost national news, overshadowing all other developments in the country, including the worst earthquake which hit Ranau and Mount Kinabalu areas this morning and the PAS Muktamar in Kuala Selangor.

In one fell swoop, the painstakingly-orchestrated and highly-funded campaign to present Najib as the most popular Prime Minister in the nation’s history, and in the process, to claim that he has popular endorsement for his controversial handling of the RM42 billion 1MBD scandal, has been destroyed by the farce of Najib’s “no show” on the grounds of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar’s tweet directive to cancel the forum – after it was known to all that former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir would be at the forum.

It does not speak well for Najib’s “Bugis warrior spirit” or the Royal Malaysian Police’s prowess and professionalism that it could not ensure order and security in an indoor dialogue involving some 1,500 people. Continue reading “Najib’s “Nothing2Hide” forum has infamously boomeranged into a Public Relations disaster and its time the Prime Minister have a “tell all” session in Parliament to demonstrate that he has really nothing to hide in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal”

Will Najib sack Khalid as IGP for gross incompetence and lack of professionalism where police could not maintain order, security and national harmony in an indoor dialogue involving 1,500 people in the very sanctum of UMNO headquarters?

In one fell swoop, the painstakingly-orchestrated and highly-funded campaign to present Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the most popular Prime Minister in the nation’s history, and in the process, to claim that he has popular endorsement for his controversial handling of the RM42 billion 1MBD scandal, collapsed as a result of the misjudgment over the 1MBD “Nothing2Hide” Forum at the UMNO sanctum at Putra World Trade Centre this morning.

Despite his boast of “Bugis warrior spirit”, Najib developed cold feet at the last minute and dared not show up at the forum when it was confirmed that his 1MDB critics, especially former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir, would show up for a “high noon” encounter with him.

What is most reprehensible is Najib’s roping in the police, and the preparedness of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to “play ball” by tweeting a police order to cancel the 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” forum on the grounds of public order and national harmony.

Something is really very amiss with the Royal Malaysian Police when it cannot even maintain order, security and national harmony in an indoor forum attended by some 1,500 people in the very sanctum of UMNO headquarters! Continue reading “Will Najib sack Khalid as IGP for gross incompetence and lack of professionalism where police could not maintain order, security and national harmony in an indoor dialogue involving 1,500 people in the very sanctum of UMNO headquarters?”

Najib should present Ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday how as final approving authority, he had allowed 1MDB scandal to balloon into a RM42 billion scandal in six years

Now that it has been established beyond a shadow of doubt, with the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah finally admitting publicly in his TV1 interview on the 1MDB on Wednesday night that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is the final approving authority for 1MDB deals, investments and transactions, Najib should present a Ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday to explain how he had allowed the 1MDB scandal to balloon into a RM42 billion scandal in six years.

Among the issues Najib should explain in his Ministerial statement on 1MDB to Parliament are the following nine items: Continue reading “Najib should present Ministerial statement in Parliament on Monday how as final approving authority, he had allowed 1MDB scandal to balloon into a RM42 billion scandal in six years”

Now that the government has finally admitted that the PM is the final approving authority for 1MDB transactions, are Cabinet meetings in March and May on 1MDB chaired by Najib valid, proper and legal because of conflict of interest?

For the first time in six years, the government, through the Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah in his TV1 interview on “1MDB: Di mana wangnya?” last night, has finally admitted that Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister is the final approving authority for 1MDB deals, investments and transactions.

Husni said the Prime Minister represents the Government, which is why his written approval is needed for any financial deal undertaken by the 1Malaysian Development Bhd (1MDB).

This is a very lame and poor excuse, for by this reasoning, there must be umpteenth government companies which have the same provision as 1MBD which provides under Clause 117 of its Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) that the Prime Minister must give his written approval for any 1MHD deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring.

If the Prime Minister has to give his “written approval” for the deals of umpteenth government companies, he would have little time to be Prime Minister proper.

As far as I know, 1MDP is the first case where the Prime Minister’s “written authority” is needed for any financial deal undertaken by a government company. I understand there is a second such case of a government company with such a provision which also happened under Najib’s tenure as Prime Minister.

I am prepared to stand corrected, but can Husni, who seems to be relishing his role in a new bout of transparency of the Najib government, clarify this matter and if I am right, explain this phenomenon as well as identify the second company which has this 1MDB Clause 117 provision requiring the Prime Minister’s “written consent” before any deal or restructuring before the country is landed with another major financial scandal. Continue reading “Now that the government has finally admitted that the PM is the final approving authority for 1MDB transactions, are Cabinet meetings in March and May on 1MDB chaired by Najib valid, proper and legal because of conflict of interest?”

10 Questions on 1MDB for dummies for Cabinet Ministers at their meeting today

Bravado is no answer to the mountain of queries by Malaysians as to why Cabinet Ministers had not raised questions about the propriety, accountability and transparency of the various deals in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal at the last Cabinet meeting on Friday.

“Do you think Nazri can be threatened?” is sheer bravado and does not answer the question why Ministers, according the Minister for Tourism and Culture, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz himself, were satisfied and happy with the second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah’s explanation on the 1MDB Roadmap and that no minister, including the Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, voiced any objection at last Friday’s Cabinet meeting – when it is obvious that any ordinary person cannot be happy with Husni’s explanation of the 1MDB Roadmap.

Either the Ministers were living in a different planet and did not know the almost daily queries about the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal or they just buried their heads in the sand like ostriches to shut out the mountain of 1MDB queries for the past few years.

The Ministers will be guilty of the height of irresponsibility and negligence if they had given approval to the 1MDB Roadmap without understanding the issues of propriety, accountability and transparency of the numerous deals in the 1MDB imbroglio, out of fear of stepping on the toes of Datuk Seri Najib Razak Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister.

The Ministers must make amends for their gross sins of irresponsibility and negligence on the 1MDB Roadmap at the Cabinet meeting this morning, and the following ten questions on the 1MDB for dummies should be among the questions which Ministers should pose on the 1MDB Roadmap at today’s Cabinet: Continue reading “10 Questions on 1MDB for dummies for Cabinet Ministers at their meeting today”

Ministers should redeem themselves at their meeting tomorrow to prove that Cabinet is not a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat

The Malaysian Cabinet is being held in even lower esteem among Malaysians after last Friday’s Cabinet meeting for two reasons:

Firstly, for giving approval to a 1MDB Roadmap when it is clear that no Minister has any clue how 1MDB and the Malaysian Government is going to be saved from 1MDB’s RM42 billion loans scandal; and

Secondly, no resignation by any Minister although the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Ministers can resign if they do not support him on the 1MDB issue.

It is simply incredible that the Malaysian Cabinet has degenerated into a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat, with no Minister daring to expose the illusion of the whole exercise!

The reason why the UMNO Vice President and Minister for Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had objected to the application of the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility on the 1MDB scandal was that although Ministers had asked questions about the strategic investment firm during Cabinet meetings, Ministers are just unclear as the public over the firm’s opaque deals.

Shafie had said that Ministers wanted answers to the 1MDB scandal as they wanted to know, not for their own benefit, but to explain to the people at large. Continue reading “Ministers should redeem themselves at their meeting tomorrow to prove that Cabinet is not a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat”