Shangrila's denial not good enough for Rafizi: Why the deafening silence from Najib?

"Not good enough!" The denial by Shangrila hotel has not at all fazed fast-rising PKR leader Rafizi Ramli, who in recent months has given many quarters in Umno heart attacks with his exposé of the deep-seated corruption in the NFC cattle breeding project.

It has resulted Umno minister Shahrizat Jalil agreeing to step down when her Senatorship expires on April 8 and her husband Salleh Ismail, the NFC chief, to be finally charged for criminal breach of trust.

Now, even Prime Minister Najib Razak will not spared and has to go through the grill like any normal person, says the PKR strategy director.

Utter silence

Moreover, according to Rafizi, the Prime Minister's Office has till now not even dared to reply to the 8 issues that he had requested Najib to clarify so as to prove that the PM did not abuse his power and passed on the bill for his daughter's engagement party to his office to pay.

"There has been no response at all. PMO had offered only mere denials and then expected the people to take their word as good when we have documentary proof to show otherwise. It looks like the PMO is now using Shangrila to make the same sort denials. We maintain that it is incumbent upon the PM to furnish proof of the payment plus the 8 proofs that we have outlined," Rafizi, a UK trained auditor, told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Najib, as the PM of Malaysia, should not have the attitude that he is above responding to the people's concerns. After all, this is not a wild accusation. We have a banquet events order and have done our checks. At the very least, Najib should explain to the people and to be sure he is not just issuing mere denials, he should follow the 8 very simple steps that we have laid out. This is how it should be if we want to encourage transparency and good practice."

Indeed, the PMO had rushed out to deny Rafizi's March 9 accusation, and demanded an apology which Rafizi said was "premature. The PKR leader issued his own statement, challenging Najib to comply with 8 basic auditing steps so as to leave no doubt as to the PM's innocence.

Rafizi was referring to a news article that reported Shangrila as having confirmed that it was Najib who paid the bill.

“As per normal procedure, event order number 14511 was issued on June 13, 2011 for the said event. The said event was completed on June 17, 2011 and the full settlement of the said event was paid by the Honourable Prime Minister on June 30, 2011 and not by the Prime Minister’s Office,” the Malaysian Insider reported Shangrila as saying.

Report lodged with MACC

Just a day ago, Pakata Rakyat NGO Jingga-13 had lodged a report at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Shah Alam against Najib.

"We hope that the MACC will investigate the document and if necessary charge Najib under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009 for abuse of power," Jingga-13 chief Fariz Musa said.

According Fariz, the bill came up to RM409,767. RM18,792 was spent on the reception for 36 VIPs costing RM522 each and RM309,975 for 862 other guests, while there was also an operating cost of RM81,000.

Given the Shangrila's latest statement, it now becomes clear why Rafizi was meticulous in requesting for the proof. The Putrajaya party is not the first time that Najib has been caught making abusing his power to benefit his family and friends.

Najib's daughter had married into a power political family in Kazakhstan last year, and the Kazakh leg of the engagement had been held earlier than the second leg in Putrajaya. By the time that the Putrajaya party took place, Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor were already under public fire for timing an official visit to Kazakhstan so as to match their daughter's engagement.

The Malaysian first couple were also accused of being 'cheap' for including personal guests as part of their official entourage, which traveled and lodged first class. Due to the public outcry, the Foreign ministry was forced to reveal that the total traveling bill came up to more than RM1.1million alone.

Abuse of power is not a personal matter

The 8 steps Rafizi outlined for the Prime Minister were:

First, he has to confirm (or deny) that the engagement party did cost as much as specified in the BEO document produced against him;

Second, he has to confirm (or deny) the veracity and authenticity of the Banquet Event Order (BEO) produced against him that clearly specifies the PMO as the party footing the bill;

Third, he has to instruct the PMO to produce the original copy of the Purchase Order sent to Shangrila Hotel to ascertain which party was originally responsible for making the order,

Fourth, he has to instruct the PMO to produce the original snapshot of the accounting transaction from the Government of Malaysia’s (GOM’s) accounting system which recorded the Purchase Order, to ascertain whether the order (allegedly raised by the PMO) was ever recorded in the accounting system,

Fifth, he has to instruct the PMO to produce the original copy of the invoice sent by Shangrila Hotel in relation to the event as it can be used to determine whether the whole expenses were charged personally to the Prime Minister as he claims,

Sixth, he has to instruct the PMO to produce the original snapshot of the accounting transaction from the Government of Malaysia’s (GOM’s) accounting system which recorded the invoice sent by Shangrila Hotel, to ascertain whether the liability to pay the invoice was ever recorded in the accounting system,

Seventh, he has to instruct the PMO to produce the original payment voucher made to Shangrila Hotel to ascertain the party which first settled the bill; and

Eight, he has to produce proof of payments in the form of a copy of his personal cheque used to pay, or his bank statements or any third party records of his financial transactions that can substantiate his claim that he did pay for the bill.

"I urge PM Najib Razak to answer the following questions backed up by hard evidence in the form official documents to prove that the public did not foot the bill for his daughter’s engagement party," Rafizi had said.

Malaysia Chronicle