Kit Siang: RCI needed as govt cannot be trusted

The time has come for a national campaign to demand a Royal Commision of Inquiry (RCI) into Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation and RM55 billion 1MDB mega scandals.

KUALA LUMPUR: There’s only one option left, barring a change of government in Putrajaya, said suspended Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang, that is a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to conduct a public inquiry into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s globally notorious mega scandals. “Nobody expects the truth to be revealed if matters are left solely to government investigations and enforcement agencies, or even to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) under a ‘cari makan’ chairman.”

The time has therefore come for a national campaign to demand a RCI into Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation and RM55 billion 1MDB twin mega scandals, added Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader.

The Attorney-General’s (AG) Mohd Apandi Ali’s rejection of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigations and recommendations and exoneration of Najib of any crime or wrongdoing on the RM2.6 billion donation and RM42 million SRC International scandals have convinced the people that the government cannot be trusted to do the right thing, warned Lim.

Apandi Ali’s decision shocked not only Malaysians, but also the international legal and judicial community, pointed out Lim. “The Swiss Attorney-General openly expressed his dismay at his Malaysian counterpart’s decision.”

At the rate the Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) Government was abandoning its National Transformation Programme objectives to fight corruption and uphold the principles of accountability, integrity and good governance, lamented Lim, Najib was “notching up great shame and infamy for Malaysia.”

“We have been overtaken by China and even Indonesia in both ranking and score on corruption within a decade.”

What should concern the people, argued Lim, was that Malaysia quickly bucks up and shows its seriousness on the anti-corruption front. “The start to reverse the trend of Malaysia being overtaken by other countries, particularly in Asia, in the fight against corruption in high public places, must start with the Prime Minister’s full and satisfactory accountability on the mega scandals.”