THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING

The ball is now at Dr Mahathir’s feet. Many are waiting to hear his latest response to this new development. Is this new development going to satisfy him that 1MDB is not in the deep shit he says it is? Or is he still going to insist that 1MDB is a dead duck just like Perwaja with no hope in sight?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I am still recovering from my flu (at my age it seems to take much longer to get over your ailments) so no long cheong hei article from me today. All I want to say is today 1MDB paid off RM3.6 billion of its RM42 billion debts but no one seems to be reporting this event.

I would have thought that since 1MDB seems to revolve around some people’s lives as if only 1MDB and nothing else in this world matters, by now the internet, social media and online news portals would be buzzing with this news. But no, what I see instead is total silence and the silence is certainly deafening.

Maybe they need time to try to figure out how to spin this news with a negative slant. Tony Pua will probably want to know which Arab loan shark 1MDB borrowed the money from while Rafizi Ramli may want to get his hands on the bank statements first before saying anything.

So it looks like RM42 billion has not disappeared into thin air after all. If it has then where has this RM3.6 billion come from? I was told we should expect to see more billions appearing soon as more assets are converted into cash. This is 1MDB’s way of proving that RM42 billion has not disappeared into thin air but has been converted into assets which can easily be converted back into cash if required.

Anyway, this sort of makes any dialogue on 1MDB irrelevant since events are rapidly overtaking the issues to be discussed. And if PAC does not hurry up with its investigation and report the whole exercise may be rendered purely academic in the end.

Many people, critics as well as supporters of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, say that settling the controversy surrounding 1MDB is a must if he wants to remain in office. PAS has already demanded Najib’s resignation by Hari Raya. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad cannot wait till Hari Raya. He wants Najib’s resignation yesterday.

The ball is now at Dr Mahathir’s feet. Many are waiting to hear his latest response to this new development. Is this new development going to satisfy him that 1MDB is not in the deep shit he says it is? Or is he still going to insist that 1MDB is a dead duck just like Perwaja with no hope in sight?