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Have all Ministers accepted collective responsibility for the 1MDB scandal to “sink or swim” with Najib on the issue?

Have all Ministers, including Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal accepted collective responsibility for the 1MDB scandal to “sink or swim” with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on the issue?

This question becomes pertinent when two UMNO-owned newspapers, Utusan Malaysia and New Straits Times reported in prominence the online portal Malaysia Today article last night that the Prime Minister had told his Cabinet members at Friday’s meeting to resign if they do not support him on the 1MDB issue.

The Malaysia Today article headlined “NAJIB ASKS HIS CABINET MEMBERS NOT WITH HIM TO RESIGN” reported:

Anyway, after Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah presented the Ministry of Finance’s plan for 1MDB to the Cabinet on Friday, Najib looked at all the Cabinet members and asked them who were not with him. Those not with him can tender their resignation and walk out the door. Continue reading “Have all Ministers accepted collective responsibility for the 1MDB scandal to “sink or swim” with Najib on the issue?”

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Why things like 1MDB happen

By P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
May 28, 2015

QUESTION TIME Malaysia had no major financial scandals – as in billion-ringgit ones – until the infamous case of Bumiputra Malaysia Finance or BMF emerged in the early eighties and captured the imagination of the press and the public.

Before we are a bit quick to point the finger at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for that, let’s point out that Mahathir became prime minister only in 1981, after BMF, Bank Bumiputra’s wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, started loaning money to George Tan’s Carrian group, eventually amounting to RM2.5 billion in all.

The loans were made between 1979 and 1983, which means that loans continued to be made to Carrian even after Mahathir became PM, implying that Mahathir cannot be totally absolved.

Carrian was a rising star in the Hong Kong property market then but subsequently went bust, making it the biggest bankruptcy in Hong Kong at the time. The scale of the scandal was simply enormous and record-breaking, putting Malaysia on the top of the list in terms of banking failure at that time.

The question is what was a unit of Bank Bumiputra, a bank set up to provide bumiputeras access to funding as part of the effort to increase their participation in business, doing lending money to a Hong Kong property group?

This was at that time, the largest banking scandal in the world and the interest in it spiked further when a Bank Bumiputra senior officer sent to Hong Kong to investigate was murdered and his body dumped in a banana plantation. Continue reading “Why things like 1MDB happen”

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Will Mahathir knuckle under the threat of RM1 million reward for information about his wrongdoings as Prime Minister for 22 years causing RM100 billion losses to Malaysia from his various financial scandals and fade from the political scene?

I read today of a new NGO which has offered a reward of up to RM1 million for information about the wrongdoings of Tun Dr. Mahathir during his 22 years as Prime Minister causing RM100 billion losses to the country from his various financial scandals.

As one of the few who had stood up in and out of Parliament to consistently and persistently criticise and oppose the series of financial scandals and abuses of power during Mahathir’s premiership from 1981 – 2013 – and paying a heavy price of being detained for a second time for 18 months under the Internal Security Act during Operation Lalang where Guan Eng and I were the first to be detained but the last to be released – I find the report of a RM1 million bounty for information about Mahathir’s wrongdoings both amusing and interesting.

Why wasn’t such a RM1 million bounty offered during Mahathir’s 22-year tenure as Prime Minister from 1981-2003? Was it because such an offeror would find himself in incarceration even before the ink of such an offer could dry?

Why was such a RM1 million bounty offered only 12 years after Mahathir had stepped down as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia? Were they sleeping for the past 12 years and could not pluck up the courage for such a public-spirited offer?

Has the RM1 million bounty any connection with Mahathir’s stepping up of his attacks on Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister of Malaysia, whether on the RM42 billion 1MDF financial scandal or the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu, which will bring it within the zone of a proxy war in the escalation of the Najib-Mahathir titanic battle? Continue reading “Will Mahathir knuckle under the threat of RM1 million reward for information about his wrongdoings as Prime Minister for 22 years causing RM100 billion losses to Malaysia from his various financial scandals and fade from the political scene?”

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As Save 1MDB Roadmap is in fact Save Najib Roadmap, did Najib excuse and absent himself from yesterday’s Cabinet decision on the 1MDB Roadmap because of personal conflicts of interest?

On Thursday, the second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah said he would table a roadmap for 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to the Cabinet on Friday to strengthen and solve the problems plaguing 1MDB and that the roadmap would be made public after it is tabled in the Cabinet.

The Save 1MDB Roadmap has not been made public after the Cabinet meeting as promised, only the announcement by Husni that 1MDB will receive US$1 billion (RM3.67 billion) from Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to repay a US$975 million loan maturing in August but which a consortium of German lenders is seeking an early settlement due to a breach of covenant in the loan agreement by 1MDB.
But the Malaysian public have not been told what 1MDB’s USD$1 billion Abu Dhabi lifelife would cost Malaysia as everybody should know of the truism that there is no free lunch in the world.

Malaysians have also not been informed of the other details of the agreement with International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and its Aabar Investments unit, which are said to include “further measures to comprehensively address the various financial asset and liability transactions between the parties” or aspects of the rationalisation plan of 1MDB.

Have these details of the Save 1MDB Roadmap been presented to the Cabinet yesterday or were the Cabinet Ministers as usual asked to give a blank cheque approval for the Save 1MDB Roadmap without any details to allow the Ministers to discuss and decide on the viability and sustainability of the of the Roadmap and whether to approve the conditions to save 1MDB – even though the Ministers will have to be collectively responsible for the Save 1MDB Roadmap?

Are the Ministers in the same position as members of the Malaysian public, or to use the words of UMNO Vice President and Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal on Wednesday, that the Ministers were just as unclear as the public over the 1MDB’s opaque deals? Continue reading “As Save 1MDB Roadmap is in fact Save Najib Roadmap, did Najib excuse and absent himself from yesterday’s Cabinet decision on the 1MDB Roadmap because of personal conflicts of interest?”

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Cabinet should be given adequate time for Ministers to understand and study the Save 1MDB roadmap before a Cabinet decision is taken while Najib should “tell all” about his 1MDB dealings in the past six years

The Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah announced yesterday that the Finance Ministry will present a roadmap for 1MDB to the Cabinet today to solve the problems plaguing the 1MDP and to counter negative perceptions on the strategic investment fund company.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the second Finance Minister Husni should be fair to their ministerial colleagues in the 35-strong Cabinet, who should be given adequate time to understand and study the Save 1MDB Plan before a Cabinet decision is taken as all the Ministers have to bear collective responsibility for the success or failure of the Save 1MDB Plan once it is approved by the Cabinet.

The Cabinet should not repeat the farce of its March 4 meeting when the Ministers went through the motions of being briefed by 1MDB and its auditors Deloitte, with few Ministers understanding what was going on, but the Cabinet still prematurely and foolishly cleared the troubled fund of wrongdoing and issued 1MDB with a clean bill of health and integrity.

Without comprehensive Cabinet papers for the Ministers to understand the 1MDB scandal, without access to the thousands of 1MDB transactions and email which London’s Sunday Times and Sarawak Report said they had obtained access to, despite attempts by 1MDB at the end of last year to call in all of its computers, employee laptops and servers to wipe them clean of such transactions and emails, how could the Cabinet clear the 1MDB of any wrongdoing?

This has led to the shocking spectacle of the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, declaring after more than two months after the Cabinet meeting which cleared 1MDB of wrongdoing that the 1MDB Board should be sacked and the police called in to investigate 1MDB. Continue reading “Cabinet should be given adequate time for Ministers to understand and study the Save 1MDB roadmap before a Cabinet decision is taken while Najib should “tell all” about his 1MDB dealings in the past six years”

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Is Shafie breaking ranks with the Prime Minister and declaring that he is not prepared to “swim or sink” with Najib on the 1MDB scandal and that if Najib is to drown, he should do it alone without dragging down others?

The statement by UMNO Vice President and Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal raised eyebrows all round.

It is not just his repudiating the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility, but even more significant, his striking a posture which is tantamount to Shafie breaking ranks with the Prime Minister and declaring that he is not prepared to “swim or sink” with Najib on the 1MDB scandal and that if Najib is to drown, he should do it alone without dragging down others.

This is the only interpretation of Shafie’s protest against claims that the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for the 1MDB scandal, saying that it would be unfair to do so when he and his colleagues were just as unclear as the public over the firm’s controversial and opaque deals.

It is shock enough that a senior three-term Cabinet Minister does not understand the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility but it boggles the minds of Malaysians that Shafie could assert both ignorance and innocence about the enormity of the 1MDB scandal, claiming that he was in the position of the ordinary aggrieved Malaysian on the ground that he was as unclear as the public about the 1MDB scandal.

How could this be when the Cabinet at its meeting on 4th March this year cleared the troubled fund of wrongdoing, making all the 35 Ministers individually and collectively for the 1MDB scandal! Continue reading “Is Shafie breaking ranks with the Prime Minister and declaring that he is not prepared to “swim or sink” with Najib on the 1MDB scandal and that if Najib is to drown, he should do it alone without dragging down others?”

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Speaker should intervene and rule whether PM had abused the Standing Orders to avoid answering pertinent questions about the 1MDB scandal – which is the first step towards parliamentary reform in Malaysia

The Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia should intervene and rule whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had abused the Parliamentary Standing Orders to avoid answering pertinent questions about the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal – which is the first step towards parliamentary reform in Malaysia.

Najib yesterday dodged the question by the DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua whether the 1MDB management had only met with PetroSaudi International Limited for the first time on September 23, 2009, five days before both parties inked a deal in London; and whether the agreement was approved by the 1MDB Board of directors at the time.

Najib cited Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders 23(1)(i) to avoid answering the question.

Parliamentary Standing Orders 23(1)(i) states that “a question shall not be asked as to whether statements in the press or of private individuals or financial bodies are accurate”.

Najib said that the issue raised by Pua “is based on news report by a news portal that cannot verify the authenticity of the source of the report”.

This is a blatant abuse of the parliamentary process designed to ensure government accountability and good governance. Continue reading “Speaker should intervene and rule whether PM had abused the Standing Orders to avoid answering pertinent questions about the 1MDB scandal – which is the first step towards parliamentary reform in Malaysia”

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Who will “bell the cat” at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, insisting that Najib should “tell all” to the Ministers and immediately testify at the PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal as it is now established that the PM is the final approving authority for all 1MDB deals

Who will “bell the cat” at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, insisting that Datuk Seri Najib Razak should “tell all” to the Ministers and immediately testify at the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on the 1MDB scandal, as it is now established that the Prime Minister is the final approving authority for all 1MDB deals?

Will the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin, whose speech at an UMNO function on 16th May wanting the 1MDB Board to be sacked and the police called in to investigate – whose recording had been visited more than half a million on times on You Tube – “bell the cat”?

In fact, does Muhyiddin know that the Prime Minister is the final approving authority for all 1MDB deals – as provided by the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) agreement which made it very clear that the Prime Minister has the final say over any “financial commitment” of the company?

Do the Cabinet Ministers know that the Prime Minister is the final approving authority for all 1MDB’s financial deals?

If not, how can the Cabinet Ministers allow the Prime Minister to mislead them in such a colossal manner; and if yes, why have they given the Prime Minister such a “blank cheque” without any check and balance as to plunge the country into a RM42 billion scandal – despite numerous warnings and queries by DAP MP for PJ Utara Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli in the past four years, and with increasing intensity in the past two years since the 13th General Elections on May 5, 2013?

Would the Cabinet tomorrow demand Najib to “tell all” about his decisions as the final approving authority of 1MDB, before requiring Najib to “tell all” to Parliament and the nation.

Or is there nobody in the Cabinet who will “bell the cat” tomorrow? Continue reading “Who will “bell the cat” at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow, insisting that Najib should “tell all” to the Ministers and immediately testify at the PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal as it is now established that the PM is the final approving authority for all 1MDB deals”

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The 21 years of mismanagement that brought MAS to its knees

by Ram Anand
The Malaysian Insider
27 May 2015

Beginning September, Malaysia Airline System Bhd, the company Malaysians know as the national carrier since 1972, will cease to exist.

It would instead be replaced by a new company, Malaysia Airlines Bhd, to be fully owned by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional before a planned re-listing in Bursa Malaysia by 2019.

This, however, is not the first time MAS has been subjected to a turnaround plan or a bid to save the airline. It has happened several times over the course of 22 years, beginning in 1994.

This is the most comprehensive restructuring plan that MAS has been subjected to though. One that will involve a rigorous cutting down of its air travel routes and its workforce, likely to reduce it to a regional airline.

But this will only work if the government and those helming this restructuring plan heed the lessons of the past. Continue reading “The 21 years of mismanagement that brought MAS to its knees”

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Call for immediate halt to the parliamentary debate on the 11Malaysia Plan for Najib to make a ministerial statement on his role in the 1MDB scandal followed by a two-day debate tantamount to whether Najib still enjoy confidence of Parliament

1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)’s president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy was supposed to be overseas on an assignment making it impossible for him to attend the scheduled Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on the 1MDB scandal yesterday.

However, in the last two days, Arul had been unusually productive and accessible, making three media responses raising the question whether he is really overseas.

The first was 1MDB media statement on Monday in immediate response to the media conference by the PAC Chairman, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed that in place of the testimony by Arul and the former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Halmi, the PAC would move on to question the three firms that audited 1MDB.

In the statement, Arul reiterated that 1MDB will “extend its full co-operation” to the PAC and that both he and Shahrol “look forward to appearing before the committee and having the opportunity to clarify 1MDB’s position”.

The second was Arul’s statement yesterday refuting reports that 1MDB had only informed the PAC of the 1MDB duo’s no-show at the eleventh hour despite the notice to attend the hearing two weeks ago.

Arul said it was only on May 21 that 1MDB received a letter from the Ministry of Finance, appending the invitation sent by the PAC, raising the question why and who in the Finance Ministry who sat on the PAC requisition on May 6 summoning the 1MDB duo to the PAC hearing yesterday – and whether the Finance Ministry official concerned would be disciplined.

But it was Arul’s third media statement last evening which “cooked the goose” so to say. Continue reading “Call for immediate halt to the parliamentary debate on the 11Malaysia Plan for Najib to make a ministerial statement on his role in the 1MDB scandal followed by a two-day debate tantamount to whether Najib still enjoy confidence of Parliament”

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Is Najib prepared to reveal and censure the Finance Ministry official allowing Arul and Shahrol to play truant from today’s scheduled PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal?

It is an indication of the public weariness, skepticism and even disgust with the endless “smoke and mirrors” spectacles in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal in the past four years that the assurance given by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in Japan that the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)’s president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Halmi will testify before the Public Accounts Committee has failed to mollify the public outrage at the 1MDB duo’s impertinence and contempt of Parliament in playing truant from today’s scheduled PAC hearing on the 1MDB scandal.

Najib’s statement that “1MDB officials will appear before PAC, will not run away” is utterly meaningless and weightless, when the 1MDB duo could dodge the scheduled PAC hearing on the 1MDB today with a cock-and-bull story about important assignments overseas – when none of them nor the Finance Ministry could reveal which country Arul and Shahrol are today and what are these prior commitments which are more important than the PAC hearing!

Did the Finance Ministry lie to the PAC that Arul and Shahrol had more important overseas assignments which made it impossible for them to attend the PAC hearing today in the same way the Najib had lied in his parliamentary answer about the US$1 billion deposit from Cayman Islands in a Singapore bank?

This appears to be the case, as the reason given by Najib in Japan for the absence of the 1MDB duo from the PAC hearing is not overseas assignments, but that the “1MDB officials have something to sort out first”.

“Have something to sort out first” is clearly very different from the duo having overseas assignments making it physically impossible for them to appear before the PAC. Continue reading “Is Najib prepared to reveal and censure the Finance Ministry official allowing Arul and Shahrol to play truant from today’s scheduled PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal?”

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Have Arul and Shahrol good reasons for playing truant from the scheduled PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal today? Did Najib, if not who, approve their “ponteng” today?

Questions galore in people’s mind in the past 24 hours since news spread that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)’s president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Halmi are playing truant from the Public Accounts Committee’s (PAC) hearing scheduled today.

Chief among these questions are:

1. Have Arul and Shahrol good reasons for playing truant from the scheduled PAC hearing on the 1MDB scandal today, when the duo had been given more than two weeks’ notice of the hearing?

2. If the PAC hearing scheduled today clashes with their important overseas appointments, why wasn’t the PAC informed immediately after they received the PAC requisition on May 6? PAC was only informed via a letter from the Finance Ministry on May 22 that the duo could not attend.

3. Where are Arul and Shahrol now overseas, and what are these important appointments they are attending, couldn’t these overseas appointments be rescheduled to give priority to their appearance before the PAC?
Continue reading “Have Arul and Shahrol good reasons for playing truant from the scheduled PAC hearing on 1MDB scandal today? Did Najib, if not who, approve their “ponteng” today?”

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Arul Kanda and Shahrol Halmi skipping PAC hearing – the last straw that breaks the camel’s back on 1MDB scandal and Cabinet must sack the whole board or sack itself

(Scroll down for English text)

Arul Kanda dan Shahrol Halmi tidak hadir perbicaraan PAC – beban terakhir skandal 1MDB; Kabinet mesti memecat seluruh Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB pada hari Rabu nanti, atau sebaliknya seluruh Kabinet mesti letak jawatan

Tindakan kedua-dua presiden merangkap pengarah eksekutif kumpulan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Arul Kanda Kandasamy dan bekas CEO 1MDB Shahrol Halmi untuk tidak hadir perbicaraan Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Awam esok adalah apa yang disebut pepatah Inggeris sebagai “last straw that breaks the camel’s back” dalam skandal RM42 bilion 1MDB.

Ia wajar menyedarkan rakyat Malaysia yang masih terlena dan merasakan seolah-olah tiada sebarang masalah dengan skandal 1MDB.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin telah memberitahu dalam sebuah rakaman ucapannya kepada empat Bahagian Umno minggu lalu bahawa skandal 1MDB adalah “last straw that breaks the camel’s back” dan akan menyebabkan kejatuhan kerajaan Umno/BN. Inilah sebabnya kenapa beliau mahu seluruh Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB dipecat, serta disiasat oleh pihak polis.

Rakaman ucapan Muhyiddin itu telah dimuatnaik ke YouTube menggunakan beberapa akaun dan telah ditonton hampir setengah juta kali dalam tempoh empat hari lalu. Continue reading “Arul Kanda and Shahrol Halmi skipping PAC hearing – the last straw that breaks the camel’s back on 1MDB scandal and Cabinet must sack the whole board or sack itself”

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View from the Umno grassroots

– Muhammad Azaham Wahab
The Malaysian Insider
24 May 2015

I am a member of Umno who had served the party for a good 40 years and was a Branch Chairman for 23 years.

I also served for a few years at the division level and consider myself a grassroots leader of Umno and am qualified to say that I embody the sentiments of members at the grassroots level.

As a branch leader for more than 20 years, we have always obeyed the higher ups in Umno and slogged at every election to ensure the success of Umno-Barisan.

I was proud of Umno and my MCA and MIC friends because for whatever weakness Barisan had we were brothers in arms to develop the country.

I trusted the leaders and they did not betray my trust because the country was peaceful and development in all sectors was satisfactory although it could be much better.

However things have changed and corruption and misuse of power had reared its ugly head. The Barisan leadership condoned corruption and used their power to cover up their corrupt practises on the economic and business sector. Corruption is now so embedded in society we seem to accept it as a normal practice. Continue reading “View from the Umno grassroots”

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11th Malaysia Plan made dubious history in being the first 5-year plan which could not even enjoy one-hour wonder as it was immediately overwhelmed and overshadowed by Muhyiddin’s call for heads to roll in the 1MDB scandal

The R260 billion 11th Malaysia Plan made dubious history yesterday in being the first five-year plan in the past half-century spanning six Prime Ministers which could not even enjoy one-hour wonder as it was immediately overwhelmed and overshadowed by the recording of Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s call for heads to roll in the 1MDB scandal.

The glossiest five-year plan document in the nation’s history, which would have involved the greatest expenditures in packaging than in its content, was not able to bathe in the unchallenged plaudits of a “seven-day wonder” or even “24-hour wonder” as was the case with the unveiling of previous five-year plans.

Parliamentary and national attention was affixed not on the 11th Malaysia Plan but on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s reaction to Muhyiddin’s call for heads to roll in the 1MDB scandal – and the implication whether Najib’s head will also have to roll in the process.

In just ten days, all the false camaraderie after the UMNO Supreme Council meeting on May 11 have been torn asunder by the uploading of the recording of Muhyiddin’s speech at an UMNO meeting on Saturday, where Muhyiddin’s warning that the 1MDB scandal would cause the downfall of the UMNO/BN government was greeted with loud applause and even “Sack the President” calls.

Muhyiddin’s “the last straw to break the camel’s back” speech has now become the hottest property on You Tube. Continue reading “11th Malaysia Plan made dubious history in being the first 5-year plan which could not even enjoy one-hour wonder as it was immediately overwhelmed and overshadowed by Muhyiddin’s call for heads to roll in the 1MDB scandal”

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Would Muhyiddin propose the sacking of Najib as Prime Minister if Najib is responsible for all the major decisions taken by the 1MDB board in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal?

(Scroll down for BM version of this statement / Terjemahan BM di bawah)

The RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stole the thunder from the 11th Malaysia Plan and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak respectively when a video recording of Muhyiddin calling for heads to roll in 1MDB scandal circulated among MPs when Najib was presenting the 11th Malaysia Plan in Parliament this morning.

After Najib’s presentation of the 11th Malaysia Plan in Parliament, Muhyiddin stood by his speech at an UMNO gathering on Saturday calling for the 1MDB Board to be sacked for the RM42 billion debt scandal or it will bring down the Barisan Nasional government.

In the recording, Muhyiddin said this was his advice to the Prime Minister, adding he was not against Najib’s leadership. Continue reading “Would Muhyiddin propose the sacking of Najib as Prime Minister if Najib is responsible for all the major decisions taken by the 1MDB board in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal?”

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Najib Government is even more shambolic than the Abdullah Government, not only the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but Cabinet Ministers and DPM in the dark as to what the PM is doing

The Najib Government is even more shambolic than its predecessor, the Abdullah Government, not only the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but Cabinet Ministers and the DPM in the dark as to what the PM is doing.

It has resulted in the Sabah Speaker and Sabah UMNO Deputy Liaison Chief , Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak virtually demanding for the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and three Cabinet Ministers, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal and Khairy Jamaluddin for “trying to save their own necks” on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the latest 1MDB-LTH bailout fiasco by breaching the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility, “making statements as if they are outsiders and not part of the Cabinet”. Continue reading “Najib Government is even more shambolic than the Abdullah Government, not only the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but Cabinet Ministers and DPM in the dark as to what the PM is doing”

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Najib should explain his role in the 1MDB-Tabung Haji fiasco, in particular whether he had approved or directed LTH in the 1MDB land sale

The Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) Chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahman has announced that following advice from the Prime Minister, the plot of prime land in the Kuala Lumpur city centre which LTH purchased from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is to be sold to the highest of three bidders within the next two weeks.

This has however not ended the storm over the scandal and stigma of criminal breach of trust of pilgrim funds to bailout 1MDB, which is acquiring increasing gale force with rising chorus for the resignation of the Chairman and the four top executives of LTH, the termination of the 1MDB-LTH land deal and the refund of the payment made by LTH, and even for the resignation of the Prime Minister himself.

The Prime Minister cannot continue with his policy of elegant silence while giving private and meaningless assurances that “he will not protect those involved” if there was any wrongdoing.

Even his cousin-UMNO Vice President, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein had broken ranks and joined Deputy UMNO President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and UMNO Vice President Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal to express concerns about the government’s credibility as to suggest an international, independent auditing firm to examine 1MDB accounts – which tantamounts to a vote of no confidence in Najib’s initiative in early March asking the Auditor-General to audit the 1MDB accounts. Continue reading “Najib should explain his role in the 1MDB-Tabung Haji fiasco, in particular whether he had approved or directed LTH in the 1MDB land sale”

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Can Najib untangle the 1MDB-Tabung Haji bailout in the next 48 hours or will there be a political explosion when Najib meets the UMNO division leaders on Monday

Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s position as Prime Minister and UMNO President has never been so fragile and precarious as now, and the question uppermost in many minds is whether Najib can untangle the 1MDB-Tabung Haji bailout in the next 48 hours or whether there will be a political explosion when Najib meets the UMNO division leaders on Monday.

Najib’s desperation over the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal as to approve a raid of Tabung Haji funds has created an unprecedented political spectacle of the current Prime Minister being sandwiched under attack by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir and the current Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Mahathir is demanding that the bailout in the land deal between Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) and 1MDB be called off immediately while Muhyiddin warned from Milan that the 1MDB scandal may explode on UMNO.

Muhyiddin admitted that the debt-ridden 1MDB was the biggest factor that led to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) loss in the Permatang Pauh by-election as he was not even able to explain the scandal when campaigning because, “I don’t even know what to say”. Continue reading “Can Najib untangle the 1MDB-Tabung Haji bailout in the next 48 hours or will there be a political explosion when Najib meets the UMNO division leaders on Monday”