Kit Siang blasts Najib for keeping Cabinet in the dark over 1MDB-Tabung Haji deal

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang says prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must confirm whether the Cabinet was consulted before Tabung Haji ‘bailed out’ the debt-ridden state investment fund by purchasing a plot of land for RM188.5 million. – The Malaysian Insider pic, May 10, 2015.

DAP today said Datuk Seri Najib Razak's administration is even worse than that of his predecessor, following claims that ministers were kept in the dark over Lembaga Tabung Haji’s controversial deal with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said Najib must confirm whether the Cabinet was consulted before Tabung Haji “bailed out” the debt-ridden state investment fund by purchasing a plot of land for RM188.5 million.

He said if it was true that the matter was not discussed in the Cabinet meetings, then ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and Khairy Jamaluddin were justified in publicly voicing their concerns over the land deal.

“The Najib government is even more shambolic than its predecessor, the Abdullah government, not only the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, but ministers and the deputy prime minister in the dark as to what the PM is doing,” said Lim, referring to former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“It has resulted in the Sabah Speaker and Sabah Umno deputy liaison chief, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak virtually demanding for the resignation of the [ministers] for ‘trying to save their own necks’ on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the latest 1MDB-Tabung Haji bailout fiasco by breaching the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility,” he said in a statement.

Lim said he agreed with Salleh that it was unethical and unacceptable for any minister to remain in the Cabinet and deny all responsibility for its decisions.

But the Gelang Patah MP added that this could not apply to Muhyiddin, Hishammuddin, Shafie and Khairy if the deal was not brought to the Cabinet.

“The best person to throw light as to whether the Cabinet had discussed the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the latest 1MDB-Tabung Haji land deal bailout fiasco is the prime minister himself, whether in his meeting with Sabah Umno leaders later today and with Umno division chiefs in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.”

MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong earlier today revealed that the land deal had not even been discussed in the Cabinet meeting, as it falls under Tabung Haji’s jurisdiction, and that he only learned of it through the media.

He joined his Umno colleagues in the Cabinet in calling for 1MDB and Tabung Haji to answer all the queries raised by the public.

Gerakan and MIC leaders have similarly demanded a full explanation on the deal as well as 1MDB’s financial position, so as to put the matter to rest.

Tabung Haji's purchase of the plot of land from 1MDB for the purpose of building a residential tower has created uproar among its depositors, some of whom withdrew their savings at its branch in Shah Alam on Thursday.

Opposition politicians were quick to note that Tabung Haji was paying far more per square feet (psf) than what 1MDB paid at RM64 psf, when it first bought the land from the government, leading some to call the deal a "bailout" given 1MDB's massive debts.

Yesterday, the fund announced it was selling the land it purchased from 1MDB, following public outcry over the transaction.

Tabung Haji chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said Najib had advised him to dispose of the land so that the fund's reputation is not "tarnished" due to its business transaction with 1MDB, and in order to respect the "sensitivity" of the depositors.

- TMI