Back off, Najib tells detractors as Dr Mahathir seeks his ouster

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak says it is his responsibility to make the right decisions for all Malaysians. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, August 21, 2015.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said no one should try to interfere with or hijack his leadership as former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called for a no-confidence vote against him.

Najib said on Facebook today it was up to the people who elected him “to give and to take away” his mandate and the right doesn’t fall to any “individual, however eminent.”

On his blog yesterday, Dr Mahathir said Malaysians were worried and angry, and alleged abuse of power and corruption by Najib’s administration.

Najib has denied impropriety amid accusations by some members of his party and the opposition after it was disclosed RM2.6 billion of political donations ended up in his private accounts in 2013.

He has also resisted calls from the 90-year-old Mahathir to step down over the performance and allegations of irregularities of a state investment company.

“As prime minister, it is my responsibility to make the right decisions for all Malaysians,” Najib said in a Facebook posting.

“It is a sacred trust, and no one should attempt to interfere with or hijack that obligation to lead.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 2 that about US$700 million may have moved through government agencies and companies linked to debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd. before ending up in accounts bearing Najib’s name.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the money in Najib’s accounts was from donors in the Middle East, and not from 1MDB.

Najib has denied taking money for personal gain. The receipt of political funds was to meet the needs of the party and the community and wasn’t a new practice, the official Bernama news agency reported August 9, citing Najib.

Party trustees

“All donations in the past were made to the party’s fund operated by the trustees,” Dr Mahathir said. Najib “has openly said that since they received money from him they should support him. This is bribery”.

Najib’s spokesman declined to comment on the remarks by Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years until 2003.

Najib has counterattacked against what he described as a campaign to oust him by reshuffling his cabinet and removing Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who had called for “the real truth” on 1MDB.

Former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who helped to lead a 1MDB probe, was replaced for health reasons, while a task force investigating the company has been dismantled.

No force

The task force comprised the central bank, police, the anti-corruption commission and Attorney-General’s Chambers.

MACC said this month it was told by the A-G that the task force was no longer needed and that each investigating party could conduct its own probe using its respective authority.

The prime minister has a grip on power with the help of Umno, which leads an alliance and has governed Malaysia since 1957.

The Parliament website shows Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition holds 134 seats, the opposition has 87 and one is held by an independent.

The opposition is hoping 25 BN members of parliament would support a no-confidence vote against Najib, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said in a statement today.

Any attempt for a no-confidence vote would be futile, the Star newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing lawmaker and Umno Supreme Council member Tan Sri Abdul Shahrir Samad.

“He and his supporters are trying to make out that a vote of non-confidence against him by Parliament is not proper and constitute an abuse of the democratic system and an illegal attempt to overthrow the elected government,” Dr Mahathir said.

“But everyone knows that a vote of non-confidence is absolutely legal.” – Bloomberg