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Malaysia Gets a Dose of Real Talk

By William Pesek
Bloomberg
Jun 18, 2015

Asia-based journalists have missed Mahathir Mohamad since he left office in 2003. The former Malaysian prime minister’s mercurial governing style and fiery rhetoric made for great copy. I was in a Hong Kong ballroom in 1997 when Mahathir — the man credited with turning the agricultural backwater Kuala Lumpur, which literally means “muddy river,” into one of Asia’s most impressive skylines — responded to his country’s crashing economy by castigating hedge fund managers. He singled out George Soros as a “moron.”

Mahathir now has a new target — Najib Razak, Malaysia’s current prime minister. The daily squabbling between Najib and his predecessor has unsettled Malaysian markets, with the ringgit falling to its lowest value in a decade. But Najib has nobody to blame but himself for the attacks, given the country’s underlying economic distress. Malaysia’s prolonged slow growth, which has Fitch now threatening a downgrade of the country’s credit ratings, traces back to Najib’s refusal, or inability, to make good on his pledges to dismantle race-based policies that strangle innovation, feed cronyism and repel multinational companies.

You don’t have to take Mahathir’s word for it — Malaysia’s most successful entrepreneurs say the same thing. Just ask Tony Fernandes of AirAsia. Continue reading “Malaysia Gets a Dose of Real Talk”

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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”

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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”

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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””

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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”

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Call for immediate dissolution of Biro Tatanegara (BTN) as the country has wasted over RM1.1 billion on the BTN in the past 30 years as it continued to incite racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill

Recently, the latest evidence was uncovered that the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) under the Prime Minister’s Department had continued its negative, divisive and anti-national activity of inciting racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill.

Even for former top Malay civil servants in G25 have condemned BTN of being “ultra Malay-racist”.

Former diplomat and spokesperson of G25 Datuk Farida Ariffin also joined the growing chorus demanding that the Najib government should dissolve the “anti-national” BTN forthwith.

Five years ago, the Najib administration had promised a revamp and Malaysianisation of BTN after a nation-wide furore when a senior BTN official had used the terms “si mata sepet” and “si botol” at a closed-door Puteri Umno gathering to describe the Chinese and Indians respectively, but clearly nothing had changed and BTN remains the bulwark of brainwashing and hotbed of racism, opposing the concept of Malaysianisation as a whole and Najib’s 1Malaysia policy in particular in the Malaysian civil service.
Continue reading “Call for immediate dissolution of Biro Tatanegara (BTN) as the country has wasted over RM1.1 billion on the BTN in the past 30 years as it continued to incite racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill”

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Najib should live up to his “Nothing2Hide” claim by accepting Mahathir’s challenge to a live-telecast “Ask and Answer All” public duel

It has really come full circle – the longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia who in his 22-year premiership had repeatedly denounced Opposition leaders, even former leaders of the Umno/BN coalition government, most notably his one-time Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister-designate, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, of disloyalty in using international forums to undermine their own country, being now the target of the very same accusation by the present administration!

In an open letter to the New York Times, the Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman made these same accusations against the “super patriot” Tun Mahathir for attacking the country’s administration and political party, expressing regret at Mahathir’s action “to undermine his own country through the international media as part of a personal political vendetta”.

Anifah wrote: “It is irresponsible of any citizen, let alone a former prime minister, to spread lies and distort facts about state owned companies.”

Anifah criticised Dr Mahathir’s attack over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Umno and accusations against current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. Continue reading “Najib should live up to his “Nothing2Hide” claim by accepting Mahathir’s challenge to a live-telecast “Ask and Answer All” public duel”

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Malaysian Ex-Prime Minister Unleashes Criticism

Interview by THOMAS FULLER
New York Times
JUNE 17, 2015

Mahathir Mohamad, who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, turns 90 next month. He is forcing his way back into the center of Malaysian politics with a fire hose of criticism for the man he helped install in office, Najib Razak, the current prime minister.

In an interview, Mr. Mahathir lashed out at Mr. Najib for what he described as wastefulness and lavish spending. But he also broached a host of other topics, questioning the tenets of modern democracy and calling for a boycott of Myanmar over its persecution of the Rohingya Muslim minority there.

Here are excerpts from the interview.

On the splintering of Malaysian politics:

The reason why Malaysia has managed to remain stable and to grow economically was because there was one big coalition of parties. But now you can see there’s a breakup. What will happen in the next election is that no one will be able to gain a majority. This, of course, leads to instability.

On the current prime minister:

I had always supported Najib. I was in a way instrumental in his becoming prime minister. [But] the apparent disappearance of huge sums of money. This is not good. He has never been able to explain how the money was spent. He wants to leave his own legacy. But what he does is verging on criminal. He’s going to lose in the next election. Continue reading “Malaysian Ex-Prime Minister Unleashes Criticism”

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Power Struggle in Malaysia Pits Former Premier Against a Protégé

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

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No cause for dejection or despondency over the death of PR – there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity for all Malaysians through a new political realignment

(Scroll down for English text)

Tidak perlu bersedih dan putus di atas kematian Pakatan Rakyat – sepatutnya harus ada ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia melalui susunan politik yang baru

Nampaknya ramai yang kecewa dengan kematian Pakatan Rakyat, namun ini bukan alasan untuk merasa sedih dan kecewa di saat sepatutnya wujud ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia menjelang pilihanraya umum ke-14.

Meskipun perjuangan politik tujuh tahun Pakatan Rakyat telah berakhir ekoran pelanggaran-pelanggaran serius terhadap Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat oleh PAS, kita percaya bahawa impian dan visi ke arah Malaysia baru yang memiliki perpaduan nasional, persefahaman antara kaum dan agama, serta rasa hormat, keadilan, akauntabiliti, urus tadbir yang baik, menamatkan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa, memelihara maruah, mempunyai sistem pendidikan, kesihatan, perumahan, pengangkutan yang baik serta persekitaran yang selamat untuk semua rakyat Malaysia harus menjadi objektif utama bagi PRU ke-14.

Atas tujuan ini, DAP akan bekerjasama dengan parti-parti politik dan kuasa-kuasa politik yang sependapat, demi membawa muafakat politik baru yang komited terhadap prinsip-prinsip tersebut dan wawasan Impian Malaysia.

Kami di DAP tidak akan bekerjasama dengan pimpinan PAS yang telah mencabul Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, tetapi bersedia bekerjasama dengan kuasa-kuasa politik dan rakyat Malaysia yang komited terhadap Dasar Bersama tersebut, termasuklah ahli-ahli PAS di pelbagai peringkat yang tidak menolak dan mengabaikan Dasar Bersama tersebut. Continue reading “No cause for dejection or despondency over the death of PR – there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity for all Malaysians through a new political realignment”

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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”

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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?”

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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?”

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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”

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Najib should fly straight from Saudi Arabia to the Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake-hit zones in Sabah to give meaning to his declaration “I owe Sabah”

One question uppermost among Sabahans when I visited the earthquake-hit zones of Ranau and Kinabalu Park yesterday was why Najib, who said only last month that “I owe Sabah”, did not visit Sabah over the Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake disaster before his Saudi Arabia trip on Saturday night.

With his new personal private jet which cost a bomb to Malaysian taxpayers, Najib should have no problem to visit Ranau/Kinabalu before flying off to Jeddah for his three-day visit to Saudi Arabia.

The aftermath of the 5.9 Richter Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake, which claimed 18 lives, and Najib’s double absence, from the 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” forum in Kuala Lumpur on Friday morning and from Sabah over the earthquake disaster, were the talking points of Sabahans, in particular why Najib took some five hours to tweet his concern about the earthquake in Sabah at about noon when the earthquake struck Ranau and Mount Kinabalu at around 7.15 am on Friday morning!

Najib’s tweet was unbelievable for it said some five hours after the disaster: “I was just informed that an earthquake happened not far from Ranau. I hope all are safe and calm.” Continue reading “Najib should fly straight from Saudi Arabia to the Ranau/Kinabalu earthquake-hit zones in Sabah to give meaning to his declaration “I owe Sabah””

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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”

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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”

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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?”

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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”