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BNP Paribas Holds Nerve in Shorting Malaysia as Ringgit Surges

Lilian Karunungan
Bloomberg
October 16, 2015

A rebound in Malaysia’s ringgit will prove short-lived as the factors that made it Asia’s worst performer this year show few signs of going away, according to an investment arm of France’s largest bank.

“We’re in a situation where nothing’s changed, so therefore the only conclusion we have is that Malaysia remains a market to be short,” said Mark Capstick, a London-based fund manager at BNP Paribas Investment Partners, which oversees 532 billion euros ($605 billion). “We’re short right across the board,” he said, adding that assets being bet against include the ringgit as well as the nation’s local-currency and global bonds.

While the ringgit has appreciated more than 6 percent in October to rank among the top five in emerging markets, it’s been dogged by a persistent drop in oil prices, slowing Chinese growth and a probe of fund transfers into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank accounts. Malaysia’s currency is rebounding from a 17-year low reached in September as the receding prospect of a U.S. interest-rate increase in 2015 revives demand for higher-yielding assets worldwide.

Like BNP Paribas, Pacific Investment Management Co. is also sticking to its guns and maintaining bets that the ringgit’s slide will resume. Pimco, which oversees $1.52 trillion, reported Oct. 1 it had short positions on emerging-market currencies including the ringgit, Thai baht and South Korea’s won. Continue reading “BNP Paribas Holds Nerve in Shorting Malaysia as Ringgit Surges”

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Malaysia’s Najib Razak Played Key Role at Troubled 1MDB Investment Fund

By Tom Wright And Bradley Hope
Wall Street Journal
Oct. 15, 2015

Prime minister ordered removal of auditors, authorized controversial investment, Malaysian investigation shows

In early 2013 at the glitzy World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Malaysia’s prime minister approached the country’s longtime financial adviser Goldman Sachs with an urgent assignment.

A government investment fund the prime minister oversaw wanted Goldman to help it raise $3 billion quickly and quietly, according to people close to the bank.

The fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., or 1MDB, was Prime Minister Najib Razak’s signature initiative, envisioned as helping transform Malaysia into a modern Muslim democracy fueled by new industries. It burnished his credentials as a new type of liberal, Western-friendly leader, embraced by the U.S. as a counterbalance to China.

Its projects also stood to polish Mr. Najib’s standing with Malaysians who would soon be voting in an election. Goldman was told the fund wanted the money quickly so it could hold a public unveiling of a major investment in a planned high-profile financial center in Kuala Lumpur.

That development stalled, though the money was raised. Today, 1MDB has come to represent a different side of Malaysia—and of Mr. Najib. Even as he was courting Goldman officials in the Alps, opposition politicians were raising questions about 1MDB and how the billions it was raising were being used. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Najib Razak Played Key Role at Troubled 1MDB Investment Fund”

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Revelation of Najib’s involvement in 1MDB scandal “doesn’t rain, it pours” – false claim that it is “no longer under investigation” when it is most investigated company, both at home and internationally

Despite denials by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his cohort of Ministers and publicity minions, revelations about Najib’s involvement in the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal continues unabated.

In fact, it would be appropriate to say that as far as revelation about Najib’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal – it doesn’t rain, it pours.

Reuters have reported that it has been informed by a FBI spokesperson that the U.S. Government is reviewing Goldman Sachs’ business relationship with Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund as part of a broader, wide-ranging investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), an FBI spokesperson told Reuters yesterday.

Reuters reported that US law enforcement sources are “aware of Goldman’s possible involvement” in investments with 1MDB, but the bureau has “yet to determine if the matter will become the focus of any investigation into the 1MDB scandal.”

Reuters said the review into Goldman’s ties with 1MDB marks the latest development in a wide-ranging global investigation across three continents into possible corruption and money-laundering.
Continue reading “Revelation of Najib’s involvement in 1MDB scandal “doesn’t rain, it pours” – false claim that it is “no longer under investigation” when it is most investigated company, both at home and internationally”

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In just a week, the Malay Rulers’ concern about 1MDB has proved to be valid, legitimate and prescient, with all Najib Ministers competing in political “tai chi” and 1MDB CEO even claiming it is “no longer under investigation”

In just a week, the Malay Rulers’ concern about the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal has proved to be valid, legitimate and prescient, with the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Ministers competing in political “tai chi” and the 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda even claiming that 1MDB is “no longer under investigation”.

On Oct. 6, the Malay Rulers called on the government to complete the 1MDB investigations as soon as possible and to take “the appropriate stern action” against all found to be implicated.

The 1MDB CEO has shown utter disrespect and even contempt for the Malay Rulers when 1MDB came out with a statement yesterday saying that the Attorney-General’s explanation of why the firm was not charged emphasised the fact that it is no longer being investigated.

1MDB added that Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali’s press conference absolving 1MDB of breaching exchange laws compounds that of another enforcement agency that said it was not scrutinising the state-owned investment firm.

“This confirmation by the AGC reinforces the statement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on 22 September 2015 that 1MDB is not under investigation,” it said. Continue reading “In just a week, the Malay Rulers’ concern about 1MDB has proved to be valid, legitimate and prescient, with all Najib Ministers competing in political “tai chi” and 1MDB CEO even claiming it is “no longer under investigation””

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Can the government announce a New Deal for Orang Asli in Parliament on Monday in the debate on Teresa Kok’s urgent motion on the scandal/tragedy of seven missing Orang Asli children of SK Tohoi for seven weeks?

The announcement by the Minister for Rural and Regional Development, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob that the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) will provide transportation services for 16,905 Orang Asli pupils at 94 primary schools with hostels nationwide to enable them to return home every fortnight is most laughable and grossly inadequate as a proper government response to the scandal and tragedy of the SK Tohoi seven missing Orang Asli children for seven weeks five of whom had perished.

What the country wants is not just a new transportation service to Orang Asli pupils in school hostels to go home once a fortnight but a complete review of the 58-year government programme to bring Orang Asli communities to the mainstream of national development (which is clearly an abysmal failure) and a total revamp of government services to uplift Orang Asli in all fields of human endeavour.

Why for instance, after 58 years of upliftment of Orang Asli in the country, there is not a single Orang Asli who is a Minister or even a Deputy Minister in the Federal Government, or members on State Excos in the various states with significant Orang Asli communities?

Let the Minister for Rural and Regional Development announce in Parliament on Monday on behalf of the Najib Cabinet a “New Deal for Orang Asli” in the emergency debate requisitioned by DAP MP for Sepueh Teresa Kok on the aftermath of the scandal and tragedy of the SK Tohoi seven missing Orang Asli children in Gua Musang. Continue reading “Can the government announce a New Deal for Orang Asli in Parliament on Monday in the debate on Teresa Kok’s urgent motion on the scandal/tragedy of seven missing Orang Asli children of SK Tohoi for seven weeks?”

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Proper agenda for the first week of 2016 Budget Parliament beginning on Monday

Never before in Malaysia’s parliamentary democracy has so many issues compete and contend for attention in the first week of the forthcoming 2016 Budget Parliament beginning on Monday, 19th October 2015, whether the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6; the political, economic, good governance and nation building scandals shaping up to be a “perfect storm” to batter Malaysia; the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) or the approval of toll rate hikes for 15 highways across the country.

Members of Parliament have not received the Parliamentary Order Paper for the first week or the first day of the 25-day Parliamentary meeting which is to be held from Oct. 19 to Dec. 3, but the following should be the proper agenda for the first week of Parliament from Monday.

For the first week of Parliament from Monday to Thursday, I have given notice to pose oral Parliamentary questions on the hot topics of the day, viz:

1) To ask the Prime Minister to state when and why the multi-agency Task Force on 1MDB was formed and dissolved, what it had achieved; and the reasons and scope of the new Task Force formed by new Attorney-General.

2) To ask the Prime Minister to state who had donated the RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013; which Ministers and MPs had benefited from it; what is the balance and where are the monies. Continue reading “Proper agenda for the first week of 2016 Budget Parliament beginning on Monday”

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Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid should agree to an urgent debate in Parliament on Monday on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy of the seven missing children for seven weeks, leaving only two survivors

It has been reported that the Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan was ‘livid’ over the deplorable education conditions for Orang Asli children, especially in SK Pos Tohoi, the boarding school in Gua Musang where seven school children ranging from seven to eleven years were missing for seven weeks and with only two survivors.

Kamalanathan said he would investigate claims there were only male teachers in SK Pos Tohoi, as this was not supposed to happen.

As I said yesterday, the majority of the students at SK Pos Tohoi are female, but there was not a single female teacher as all the eight teachers are male. The hostel has four wardens and only one of them is a female.

What is the use of the Deputy Education Minister ‘livid’ over the deplorable education conditions for Orang Asli children when the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Education Minister Datuk Madhzir Khalid are totally indifferent and unconcerned, which was why they never breathed a word about the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy although five of the seven school children have clearly perished.

Even with the discovery the two missing children, Mirsudiar Aluj, 11, and Norieen Yakob, 10, in “skin and bones”, both Najib and Mahdzir had not shown any interest or concern?

Other Prime Ministers and Education Ministers would have already made site visits to SK Pos Tohoi in Gua Musang, but when will Najib and Mahdzhir break their seven-week silence on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy to show their interest and concern? Continue reading “Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid should agree to an urgent debate in Parliament on Monday on the SK Pos Tohoi tragedy of the seven missing children for seven weeks, leaving only two survivors”

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Cabinet must grapple with many issues tomorrow but the most important issue of all is for Najib to table a motion of confidence in Parliament on Monday to re-establish moral and political authority and legitimacy for him to continue as Prime Minister

The Cabinet must grapple with many issues tomorrow including:

*The Malay Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 expressing the Rulers’ concern about the state of the nation, with a multitude of national crises, whether politics, economics, good governance or nation-building as the Cabinet had failed to address Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement at its meeting last Wednesday;

*The twin mega scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal banking accounts with the almost daily developments and revelations of these two mega scandals conspiring to put Malaysia continuously in the national and international spotlight as the classic example of a nation with great promise to be the showcase to the world of a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation which is also a great economic and political success but is now stumbling and on the verge of becoming a rogue and failed state.

*How to avert Malaysia from falling victim to a “Perfect Storm” with a conjunction of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises, as evidenced on the economic front by the quadruple sharp fall in the value of the ringgit , the stock market, the international reserves and the exit of foreign capital; on the political front, the spectacle of the government and UMNO in serious fracture, fragmentation and disarray; on the good governance front with the Prime Minister backing out of officiating the 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) hosted by the government in Putrajaya for fear of “hard questions” by the 1,000 delegates from 130 countries on Najib’s anti-corruption record; and on the nation-building front, the rearing of the ugly heads of the extremist and provocative politics of race and religion like the racist Sept. 16 Red Shirts rally in Kuala Lumpur. Continue reading “Cabinet must grapple with many issues tomorrow but the most important issue of all is for Najib to table a motion of confidence in Parliament on Monday to re-establish moral and political authority and legitimacy for him to continue as Prime Minister”

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Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie should sponsor a motion in Parliament to demand immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang as it is gross abuse of power to use Sosma against them and they can be assured of 72 votes from Pakatan Harapan

I arrived in Tunis together with DAP MPs Teresa Kok (Siputeh), Zairil Khir Johari (Bukit Bendera) and Steven Sim Kee Cheong (Bukit Mertajam) after a 14-hour flight from KLIA to news of more unprecedented developments in the country, as if to confirm that the country is approaching a “perfect storm” with a multitude of political, economic, good governance and nation-building crises coming to a head.

What is noteworthy in Kuala Lumpur today is not just the subject of the extraordinary and most unjustified use of Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) against Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, which must be condemned by all justice-loving Malaysians, but the gathering of former “big guns” of the ruling coalition led by former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir and his arch rival Tengku Raleigh Hamzah, former Deputy Prime Minister and current UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, former Rural and Regional Development Minister and current UMNO National Vice President Datuk Shafie Apdal, former Cabinet Minister and former UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Sanusi Junid and two ex-MCA Presidents Tun Ling Liong Sik (although not personally present) and Datuk Seri Ong Tee Kiat.

As Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie are currently Members of Parliament, I suggest the trio should sponsor a motion in Parliament for debate and voting by the end of the month (as only two-weeks notice is required for any motion to be tabled in Parliament), to demand the immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang as it is gross abuse of power to use Sosma against them for asking foreign governments to investigate the 1MDB scandal in their respective countries.

I fully agree with Mahathir and the former UMNO/BN government “big guns” that it was “shameful” for someone accused of a wrongdoing not to defend himself but to persecute others instead. Continue reading “Tengku Razaleigh, Muhyiddin and Shafie should sponsor a motion in Parliament to demand immediate release of Khairuddin and Chang as it is gross abuse of power to use Sosma against them and they can be assured of 72 votes from Pakatan Harapan”

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Cabinet should decide whether to print at least one million copies of the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement on 1MDB for mass dissemination to the public to end the confusion caused by conflicting statements by Ministers themselves and Malaysian leaders

Is the Oct. 6 Statement of the Malay Rulers so complex and complicated that it has spawned a thousand and one interpretations as to what it meant?

It has not escaped public notice that it has taken the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government more than 48 hours to craft its first official response, which was in the name of the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, which tried to dilute the meaning and impact of the Oct. 6 Statement by both welcoming it but at the same time dismissing it as redundant on the ground that the government had already taken pro-active measures to address the problems highlighted by the Oct. 6 Statement.

There was a flurry of varied and even conflicting Ministerial statements, with the Defence Minister and UMNO Vice President, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein decrying the interpretation that the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement was tantamount to the Rulers’ no confidence in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, when the focus was on 1MDB and not on Najib; the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak suggesting that the Malay Rulers should not be placed in the “political crossfire” as if the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers Statement was a single-issue statement on the 1MDB when it also dealt with other issues like national unity, proposing an end to race politics; and the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who said that the Oct. 6 Malay Rulers’ Statement reflected the governent viewpoint all along!
Continue reading “Cabinet should decide whether to print at least one million copies of the Malay Rulers’ Oct. 6 Statement on 1MDB for mass dissemination to the public to end the confusion caused by conflicting statements by Ministers themselves and Malaysian leaders”

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Was Zahid afraid to ask FBI whether Najib is being investigated by the US Department of Justice under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 for fear of an affirmative answer?

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi had an interesting encounter in his current visit to the United States.

In a report from Washington earlier today, Bernama quoted Zahid as saying that the issue of 1MDB was not a major focus of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Ahmad Zahid, who is on a working visit to the administrative centre of the United States said 1MDB was not raised at all during his meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and also in discussions with senior FBI officers.

He told Malaysian journalists in Washington:

“Nothing on 1MDB was raised by the FBI or John Kerry or any party that I met when I was in Washington.

“(1MDB) is not a big issue to them at all.

“”Maybe the issue is big as it is shouted about in the country (Malaysia) because in our country it is used as a political issue.”

Zahid had said nothing new, for he had not rebutted the New York Times report of Sept. 22 that a US federal grand jury is examining allegations of corruption involving Najib and people close to him under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010. Continue reading “Was Zahid afraid to ask FBI whether Najib is being investigated by the US Department of Justice under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 for fear of an affirmative answer?”

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Call for those responsible for the case of the missing seven Orang Asli children, with five dead, in Gua Musang to be suspended or even charged for their crime of negligence against the seven

Malaysians must hold their heads in shame at the shocking case of the seven Orang Asli children in Gua Musang, ranging from seven to eleven years, who had gone missing from their school hostel hear SK Tohoi since August 23, with the discovery yesterday of two survivors out of the seven, Norieen Yakob, 10, and Miksudial Aluj, 11, who were just skin and bones when found at a huge tree with a small hole on the ground just 1km from the school.

The other five had perished.

Malaysians must feel heart-sick that such callousness, inhumanity, negligence and gross incompetence can happen in modern-day Malaysia as to cause a human disaster and tragedy of such unbelievable magnitude.

That such a human disaster and tragedy can take place in Malaysia when we are just four years from wanting to join the rank of fully developed nations is to the eternal shame to Malaysia, and in particular the Umno/BN government of Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Continue reading “Call for those responsible for the case of the missing seven Orang Asli children, with five dead, in Gua Musang to be suspended or even charged for their crime of negligence against the seven”

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Call on Information Department to print a million copies of the Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 on their concerns about 1MDB, rule of law and national unity for mass distribution to the public throughout the country

This is the fourth day of the Malay Rulers’ Statement of Tuesday, Oct. 4 expressing their concerns about three national issues causing the crisis of confidence battering Malaysia for the past several months – the 1MDB scandal, the rule of law and national unity in the country.

The UMNO/BN Government’s response to the Malay Rulers’ Statement has gone through various combinations and permutations in the past four days, viz:

*from the initial one of shock and attempt to minimise the adverse impact of the Malay Rulers’ Statement by virtually blacking out the statement in the UMNO-controlled media, printed and electronic;

*the daze-and-haze of the Cabinet at its Wednesday meeting where the Malay Rulers’ Statement was not discussed and no reciprocal action plan produced;

*the belated realisation that the Malay Rulers’ Statement was too potent to be ignored giving way to a campaign to defang its most biting and adverse effects;

*the first official response of the government by way of a statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi more than 48 hours after the issue of the Malay Rulers’ Statement, stating on the one hand that the government viewed “positively” the Malay Rulers’ Statement while on the other dismissing the Rulers’ Statement by declaring that the government had already taken pro-active steps to address the issues raised by the Rulers;

*UMNO/BN cybertroopers using the social media to plant various versions to “defang” the adverse effects of the Malay Rulers’ Statement such as the message that Malay Rulelrs’ Statement was not directed solely at the Government but concerned all political parties and NGOs, to a revised strategy to suggest that the Statement was aimed at the Opposition and finally, postings to question the mala fide of the Malay Rulers by alleging that the Statement was solely the work of the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal without consultation with the Malay Rulers and was the handiwork of people associated with former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir.

The Ministers who have commented on the Malay Rulers’ Statement have also done themselves no favour. Continue reading “Call on Information Department to print a million copies of the Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 on their concerns about 1MDB, rule of law and national unity for mass distribution to the public throughout the country”

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Three reasons launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor a memorable and historic milestone in struggle for democracy in Malaysia

There are three reasons to make tonight’s launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor a memorable and historic milestone in the struggle for democracy in Malaysia.

First, the choice of Johor as the first state to launch Pakatan Harapan together with PKR President and Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the President of Parti AMANAH Negara, Mohamad Sabu underlines the importance of Johor in the ongoing battle for political change in Malaysia in the run-up to the 14th General Election.

Until the 13th General Election two years ago in May 2013, Johor was a political backyard in the quest for political and democratic change, as the frontline states in the political battleground were in the north, Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

The launching of Pakatan Harapan in Johor tonight is a clear signal that Johor is no more a political backwater but a front-line state for political change, especially in the 14th General Election which must be held by 2018. Continue reading “Three reasons launch of Pakatan Harapan Johor a memorable and historic milestone in struggle for democracy in Malaysia”

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Malaysia Central Bank Sought Criminal Proceeding Against 1MDB

by Tom Wright
Wall Stret Journal
Oct. 9, 2015

Malaysia’s central bank said it recommended the attorney general begin criminal proceedings against a troubled state investment fund for allegedly breaking foreign-exchange rules, but that the attorney general had declined to act on the matter.

Bank Negara Malaysia, in a statement Friday, said the fund, 1Malaysia Development Bhd., had breached central bank rules that govern the movement of cash overseas for investment.

The 1MDB fund had given “inaccurate” information in seeking permission to invest a total of $1.83 billion abroad in three separate transactions, the statement said.

Bank Negara said it had granted permission based on the allegedly inaccurate information, but later had issued a direction to 1MDB to repatriate that amount. The bank said it had asked the attorney general in August to initiate criminal proceedings. Continue reading “Malaysia Central Bank Sought Criminal Proceeding Against 1MDB”

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Malaysia’s prime minister fights for his political life

Michael Peel, Bangkok regional correspondent
Financial Times
October 9, 2015

Najib Razak, Malaysia’s embattled prime minister, is fighting for his political life after open warfare broke out within the country’s state institutions over a corruption scandal that has engulfed him.

The central bank on Friday said it had urged the country’s attorney-general to begin criminal proceedings against the debt laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad investment fund, intensifying pressure on Mr Najib who chairs its advisory board.

The central bank’s intervention comes hard on the heels of an attack by a group of the country’s traditional rulers on the handling of the 1MDB case. The twin assaults will torpedo government efforts to crack down on the prime minister’s accusers, in a scandal that had already spawned investigations from the US to Hong Kong.

Mr Najib has been under intense pressure since it emerged in July that almost $700m allegedly linked to 1MDB was paid from overseas into a bank account in his name.

Both Mr Najib and 1MDB deny wrongdoing in an affair that is damaging confidence in an economy already weighed down by high consumer debt and the falling oil price. Mr Najib says the money paid to him came from an unnamed Middle Eastern donor. Continue reading “Malaysia’s prime minister fights for his political life”

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Zeti should be brutally honest on what ails Malaysia, says global financial mag

The Malaysian Insider
9 October 2015

Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz should be brutally honest about the issues plaguing the country, said Euromoney in its October edition, as the ringgit continues its freefall and the economy begins to stutter.

The business and finance magazine said all this while, Zeti had been using words like “domestic factors” to describe the problems besetting the country, instead of saying that the predicament lies with debt-laden state owned firm 1Malaysia Development Fund (1MDB) and the RM2.6 billion donation in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts.

“Zeti has demonstrated through 15 matchless years of service that she is not one to pull her punches under political pressure.

“Now is not the time for her to start doing so. It would effectively mean that the BNM she tirelessly champions has not advanced at all.

“Zeti could go harder on what really ails the country. As Malaysia’s most trusted public official, she possesses something that the political class are in dire supply of – respect and moral authority,” the magazine said. Continue reading “Zeti should be brutally honest on what ails Malaysia, says global financial mag”

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Great misfortune if instead of being a national wake-up call to Malaysians to rise above personal and party interests and unite to resolve the national confidence crisis, the historic Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 becomes a new source of national discord and division

It will be a great misfortune for Malaysia if instead of being a national wake-up call to all Malaysians to rise above personal and party interersts and to unite as Malaysians to resolve the national crisis of confidence, the historic Rulers’ Statement of Oct. 6 becomes a new source of national discord and division.

The government has taken more than 48 hours to craft an official response in the form of the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, who said that the probe on 1MDB must follow due process, and should not be hastened or delayed.

He said that any decree by the Conference of Rulers was viewed positively and the government had taken proactive steps to address it.

Such a statement actually says nothing, as it is the classic strategy of adopting a form of language which seems to agree with the concerns expressed by the Rulers while continuing with the directions and approaches which had given rise to the Rulers’ concerns in the first place.

The danger of the Rulers’ statement becoming a subject of national discord and division could be seen from the response of the UMNO Vice President and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who said it was presumptuous to say the Malay Rulers have lost trust in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s leadership when they called for transparency in investigations into 1MDB and for wrongdoers to be punished. Continue reading “Great misfortune if instead of being a national wake-up call to Malaysians to rise above personal and party interests and unite to resolve the national confidence crisis, the historic Rulers’ Statement on Oct. 6 becomes a new source of national discord and division”

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Malaysia Arrests Another Critic of Prime Minister

By JAMES HOOKWAY And CELINE FERNANDEZ
Wall Street Journal
Oct. 8, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR—A prominent lawyer was arrested Thursday on charges of sabotage, his attorney said, after earlier planning to travel to the U.S. to help urge authorities there to investigate money transfers into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s alleged personal accounts.

The lawyer, Matthias Chang, was arrested after visiting a police lockup facility to see Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who was arrested and detained last month on the same charge. The two men had planned to fly together to the U.S., where Mr. Chang previously said Mr. Khairuddin aimed to try to persuade U.S. authorities to investigate transfers into Mr. Najib’s alleged accounts. Mr. Chang was acting as Mr. Khairuddin’s personal lawyer to make sure he complied with legal processes and laws oversees, Mr. Chang’s attorney Zainur Zakaria said.

Both men are being held under Malaysia’s sweeping Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act, which allows for them to be detained for 28 days, another lawyer acting for Mr. Chang said. Continue reading “Malaysia Arrests Another Critic of Prime Minister”

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Malaysian sultans ramp up pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak

Lindsay Murdoch
Sydney Morning Herald
October 8, 2015

Bangkok: Sultans of Malaysia’s nine states have joined influential figures in the country’s ruling party calling for a swift and transparent investigation into a political scandal involving prime minister Najib Razak.

In a rare intervention in politics, the sultans said Mr Najib’s failure to resolve allegations of corruption in a debt-ridden sovereign wealth fund he oversees has created a “crisis of confidence” in the country.

And turning up the pressure further on Mr Najib, former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said there may “hidden hands” trying to cover up people implicated in allegations swirling around the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, he was quoted by the Malaysiakini website as saying.

“It is though there are hidden hands that want to cover-up the wrongdoings of certain parties. This is unacceptable,” he said.

Mr Muhyiddin remains a powerful figure in the party even though Mr Najib sacked him earlier this year in a purge of officials involved in investigations into the fund. Continue reading “Malaysian sultans ramp up pressure on Prime Minister Najib Razak”