PMO paid RM80k Najib's birthday bash? Luxury and high living at the people's expense

To back his claim that not all is proper at Prime Minister's Office, PKR strategy director Rafiz Ramli exposed another personal expense allegedly charged to the PMO although marked private, reflecting the excessive lifestyle and reeking of abuse of power by Najib Razak and wife Rosmah Mansor.

The latest expose' immediately reignited questions about Najib's income sources, given that the prime minister's pay of RM23,000 per month would nowhere be enough to support such spending, which has amounted to RM500,000 over a period of just one month and for two lavish dinner parties.

"Corruption is the scourge that we need to fight and not just pay lip service to. Najib himself pledged to fight corruption ihis transformation program. So, there must be leadership by example," Rafizi told Malaysia Chroinicle.

"It is like the Shahrizats who bought so many condos and expensive assets they would need to earn at least RM500,000 per month to afford to service all the loans that they have taken. Same principle for Najib. If he is clean, where did he get the money from? If he was sponsored, how can Malaysians be sure there wo'tl be conflict of interest in the future when he makes decisions involving those who sponsored him now?"

Rafizi was referring the family of Umno minister Shahrizat Jalil, whose husband was charged for criminal breach of trust at the NFC on the same day that Parliament convened its first sitting of the year. In what has been described as a "silence and decoy" tactic, the BN Speaker of Parliament Pandikar Amin has used the charges as the basis to deny a motion to discuss the corruption discovered in the NFC, a national cattle breeding project awarded to Shahrizat's family to oversee.

Record high allocations and free spending ways

Indeed, Najib and Rosmah have attracted insiders aghast at their spendthrift ways to blow the whistle on them, and by now it is apparent that the first couple may have been habitually passing personal bills to the PMO to pay.

At a press conference in the Parliament lobby on Wednesday, Rafizi whipped out another Banquet Event Order for RM79,053 from the Shangrila Hotel, which provided the catering services for Najib's birthday party in July last year.

"At the event, 47 international dishes were laid out, including roast meat imported from New Zealand, Japanese delicacies and Western dishes," Rafizi told reporters.

It is worth noting that during Najib's 3-year tenure, the allocation to the PMO hit a record high. In 2010, the budget allocation to the PM's Department was RM11.9bil, rising to RM15.9bil in 2011. In 2012, this dipped to RM13.5bil, but still takes up 5.8% of the 2012 total national budget.

RM800 per head, more than BR1M's RM500 per household

The birthday dinner for 100 people at almost RM800 per head was held on July 24 at the PM's official residence in Seri Perdana, Putrajaya.

This is not the first such incident where Najib has been caught passing on personal bills to his office. Just last week, Rafizi dropped the bombshell that Najib had charged the bill for his daughter's engagement party amounting to RM410,000 to taxpayers. The event was also catered by Shangrila, which sent the invoice directly to the PMO without marking it 'private' - which prompted Rafizi to suspect there was something amiss.

“Compared to his daughter’s engagement, this event is clearly recorded as the prime minister’s private event. This raises questions over why his daughter’s engagement was not clearly stated as private but instead a ‘PMO event’,” said Rafizi.

Najib's office had responded within hours of Rafizi's accusation, demanding an apology but Rafizi - an auditor by training - turned the tables on them by seeking 8 basic clarifications from Najib, insisting that "mere denials are not good enough".

Just a day ago, Shangrila responded by saying Najib had paid for his daughter's engagement party but again gave no details. After its initial outburst, the PMO appears to have buried its head in the sand, refusing to comment or respond.

No one is above the law

Rafizi chided Najib for thinking that he was above the law and could ignore giving an explanation to the people. If Najib was insincere, and truly practiced integrity and transparency, he would respond to the following 4 questions, Rafiz added:

1. When will Najib provide the 8 proofs that PKR requested for in relation to the RM410,000 dinner

2. In the space of just one month or so, the Prime Minister has spent close to RM500,000 on two splashy dinner events that were personal and not official. If Najib is sure that he paid the bills himself, can he explain how he can afford such extravagance given the current pay scale of the prime minister is insufficient to support such a lifestyle?

3. If such luxurious spending is borne by supporters or sponsors, who are they and what proof does the PM have that their contribution towards the dinner parties will not influence him in his decisions later on?

4. Is it proper for the PM to spend so extravagantly for a birthday party when he has called on the people of Malaysia to tighten their belts and be prudent and moderate in their ways given the uncertain economic situation. The cost per head of RM800 for the birthday party already exceeds the government's recent cash aid plan BR1M, where RM500-00 was recently distributed to rach household earning less than RM3,000 per month.

The breakdown of the bill is as follows:

Buffet for 100 guests @ RM207 each  -  RM20,700

Band Syed Sobri @ RM7,300 + 6% tax  -  RM7,738

Band Batak @ RM5,000 + 6% tax  -  RM5,300

Drinks 5 gallons @ RM750 + 6% tax  -  RM795

Floral arrangements @ RM30,000 + 6% tax  - i RM31,800

Operating feen @ RM12,000 + 6% tax -  RM12,720

Grand total  RM79,053

Malaysia Chronicle