NAJIB'S ART OF LYING: It's impossible - Dr M on claim 1MDB mess to be resolved by year-end

SHAH ALAM — The financial troubles dogging 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is unlikely to be resolved by this year’s end as pledged by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Umno leaders, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The retired prime minister also vowed to continue speaking up against alleged irregularities involving 1MDB, as it involved billions of ringgit.

“I am not convinced because things are missing. There is no money,” Dr Mahathir told reporters here of Najib’s assurance.

“It’s okay if he wants to do it, but in the meantime what is not good we will continue to explain,” he added, after officiating an event at the Proton Centre of Excellence here.

The 89-year-old said he had supported Najib in the past and helped the Umno president secure victory in the elections, though the margin may have been small.

“I am not attacking him, I am exposing things that are not right,” Dr Mahathir added, referring to Najib.

Again half-truths told to the public, zero transparency from the PM himself

Yesterday, the prime minister reportedly pledged to solve the 1MDB controversy by end of this year, in a closed-door meeting with Umno division information chiefs and pro-Barisan Nasional groups.

A report by news portal The Malaysian Insider (TMI) quoted a participant in the meeting saying that Najib claimed he can solve the controversies surrounding the state investment fund within the year.

“Earliest is two months, but at any rate, he said he will solve it by the end of the year,” Hasan Hamzah, who leads a group called Gabungan Bertindak Perpaduan Melayu, was quoted saying.

No Umno politician TMI met outside the party’s headquarters at the Putra World Trade Centre, however, corroborated Hasan’s claim.

1MDB, a brainchild of PM Najib, is currently the subject of investigations by the Auditor General’s Department and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.

Dr Mahathir has since called for Najib’s resignation, citing the latter’s handling of allegations surrounding 1MDB, the state-owned investment firm that has amassed a debt pile worth over RM42 billion in just a few years. - Malay Mail