Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should act on his deputy's advice to sack the board of 1MDB over the mess the state investment fund is in. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, May 25, 2015.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must heed his deputy’s call for 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) board to be sacked, otherwise it would be embarrassing for the entire government, veteran Umno leader Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said today.
Tengku Razaleigh, popularly known as Ku Li, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement, which was made at an Umno gathering, was nothing new and appropriate, given the circumstances surrounding 1MDB.
“I would have thought, being the deputy prime minister, he would have whispered to the prime minister to alert his intentions to the problems that 1MDB is facing, and get the prime minister’s attention as to which way he was going to act,” said Ku Li, when met by reporters in the Parliament lobby.
“The problem is, if in the event the prime minister doesn’t heed what the deputy prime minister has said in his statement to the group of Umno leaders, then it will be very embarrassing for the government because he is a senior member of the government.”
Tengku Razaleigh was commenting on a leaked video of Muhyiddin calling for 1MDB’s board to be sacked during a closed-door Umno event.
The Umno deputy president had said this was his advice to Najib, adding that he was not against the party president's leadership.
"The entire 1MDB board should be sacked and the police should be called in to investigate their involvement in the scandal," Muhyiddin told the Umno gathering to wide applause.
He also said that he had his "own stand" on certain issues, adding that it was difficult to explain the RM42 billion debt to the public.
Tengku Razaleigh said Muhyiddin’s statement was not unique, as company shareholders would “naturally” take action against board members if they failed to perform.
“So what Muhyiddin said is nothing new. At the same time, it is appropriate in circumstances like that,” he said.
But Tengku Razaleigh was reluctant to share his own views regarding the debt-ridden state investment arm, saying that he wished to get the “total picture” first.
He said that 1MDB was being “bandied about as something irregular and something bordering on the brink of fraud”, but added that he would wait for the official statement to come out.
“We are only relying on the information that comes out in dribs and drabs from various sources.
“So let us look at the total picture. At the moment, even the PAC (Public Accounts Committee) is arranging how to look at this problem.”
Najib had ordered the national auditor to conduct a probe and pass its findings to the PAC for transparency.
But mounting criticism amid exposes by whistleblower website Sarawak Report led PAC to launch its inquiry earlier.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has demanded that Najib resign over the 1MDB scandal, while Muhyiddin has warned that it could explode on Umno.
- TMI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.