KUALA LUMPUR - Former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin has ventured that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pushed the panic buttons on Saturday morning when he advised Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) to sell the controversial 1.56 acres land it purchased from 1MDB for RM188.5 million. “Yet, when he speaks on Monday in conjunction with Umno’s 69th anniversary, it’s unlikely that he will step down.”
“The sell decision shows that Najib is a weak leader,” said Zainuddin. “He doesn’t think carefully and weigh various options and factors before arriving at a decision.”
“There’s no depth and maturity of thought.”
It’s clear that he’s prone to flip-flop policies, he said, as evident in his earlier decisions to repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Sedition Act, and the subsequent decision to retain the latter Act, among others.
If Najib was hoping that his decision on LTH, taken in a panic, will earn the respect of the people, added Zainuddin, he was sadly mistaken. “He has lost the respect of the people and compromised the credibility of the government.”
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The explanation given by LTH Chairman Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim that it was decided to sell the land to respect the sensitivity of the people, he argued, does not hold water. “He was implying that LTH did not take the sensitivity of the people into account before buying the land from 1MDB and was engaged in questionable practices.”
“When he said on TV3 that LTH was selling the land to stop continued slanders, the people felt like throwing up.”
LTH’s decision to buy land from the scandal-ridden 1MDB, said the former Information Minister, will convince the people that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has got his facts right in asking Najib to step down. “Although the people may be a bit hazy over the various financial transactions attributed to 1MDB, they will understand that those entrusted with the management of the company cannot be trusted. They will now worry over its RM42 billion debts.”
“It’s not difficult for the people to understand that LTH bought 1MDB land to bail out the latter with funds deposited by would-be pilgrims.”
Zainuddin went on to list the growing number of people who had spoken up on the LTH purchase of 1MDB land and expects Najib to come under even greater pressure. “Many people have told me that they feel lucky that Mahathir was still around to keep a watch on the government.”
When he first spoke on 1MDB and other issues, he conceded, many saw the former Prime Minister as “meddling and a “trouble creator”. - FMT
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