1MDB session may mean a greater fall from grace for Najib

Pushing the session on 1MDB to the last day of Parliament implies that the scandal is not being taken seriously by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The government of the day has full control of what is being discussed in Parliament. The important bills are placed first, and bills and motions that are considered not important, including the ‘no-confidence’ motion and the private bill tabled by PAS president Hadi Awang, are being placed to the last.

For any question to be answered thoroughly, along with a proper question-and-answer time, it will take at least two full days. One day would not be sufficient, especially if the session is pushed to the eleventh hour.

Being the final day of parliament, it is easy for Najib or his appointed men, if they are unable to answer the burning questions during the session, to just bring the session to a close with just one final word of conclusion.

The rakyat would then have to wait till the next parliamentary session three months later before another session is called.

We will watch to see what happens.

Answers are what we want

Najib’s credibility is in the balance today. Whether there are satisfactory answers, or not, it will affect the people’s confidence in the prime minister.

For the last six months, Najib has put the country into a lot of stresses when questions about the 1MDB were never answered properly.

Representing the government, it is his job to give an account of what happened to the public fund, especially how some RM2.6 billion and another RM40 million, could have gone into his private accounts.

Allegations of corruption have been dominating the public space but until now, Najib’s explanation has been preposterous.

I cannot imagine anyone from the Middle East would donate such a humongous amount of money and that the money is being channelled into a private account, especially if it was meant to thank Malaysians who have fought against the Islamic State.

Arabs are never known to be philanthropists in the first place. Even fellow Muslims from Syria who crossed the border were never welcomed as refugees. When Aceh was hit by the tsunami, reportedly none of the Arabs came forward with even a single dollar to help the victims.

If the Middle Eastern man - unless he were a fictitious character as most of us suspect - had donated the money, it should have gone into a foundation, and properly accounted for, instead of being channelled out of the country again.

What Najib can do, as a favour to Malaysians, is to give plausible answers to the burning questions being asked.

Step down, if questions are not answered

Otherwise, it is only fair that Najib should step down as prime minister, if he no longer enjoys the confidence of the people.

He has been given a fair chance in public eyes to give a good answer about the ‘black hole’ which has, in my opinion, led to a free fall of the Malaysian ringgit. Even the Conference of Malay Rulers have expressed their concerns about the way investigation was being carried out, and wanted it to be expedited.

What we do not want is another of those sessions like ‘Nothing to Hide’ which even irked the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ).

Najib, we are all watching!

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STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008. -Mkini