‘I will not apologize’

Undeterred by a motion against him, Simpang Rengam MP Liang Teck Meng wants the government to investigate WikiLeaks exposures on Anwar Ibrahim.

KUALA LUMPUR: Simpang Renggam MP Liang Teck Meng will not retract his statement that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has 20 offshore bank accounts with amounts of more than US$66 million (RM209 million) and S$49 million (RM123).

Undeterred, Liang told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that he wanted the government to investigate the exposure made by WikiLeaks that Anwar stashed the money in the United States, Singapore, China and Israel as it involved national security.

Liang stood his ground when Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia asked him to clarify the statement, which he made on Tuesday, after Pakatan Rakyat MPs, including Jeff Ooi Chuan Aun (DAP-Jelutong) demanded that he retract the statement and apologize to Anwar.

Liang said he would only do so if investigations were carried out and the findings showed that there were no elements of foreign intervention involved.

Pandikar Amin said he would look into a notice submitted to him by Opposition MPs and would take appropriate action.

“If YB Simpang Renggam apologizes, the issue is resolved. But Simpang Renggam did not want to say sorry or retract his statement, so I will look into this notice and take appropriate action,” he said.

Jeff Ooi told reporters that he and Sim Tze Tzin (PKR-Bayan Baru) had handed an official notice to Pandikar Amin at 4pm yesterday, calling for Liang to be referred to the Rights and Privilege Committee for making an unsubstantiated claim.

Bernama