We’ve lost faith in Najib, declare youth leaders

Youth leaders say seeing the nation being torn apart has placed upon them the responsibility to speak up.

PETALING JAYA: The nation’s future leaders have joined forces under one united voice, expressing their lack of confidence in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s administration.

This sentiment was expressed in a statement signed by 25 student leaders and activists, led by national asset and Asia’s thrice crowned top debater Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

“We, the youth leaders of Malaysia, have lost faith in Najib and his allies as their actions have jeopardised the country and sacrificed our future.

“We will no longer be silent while our future is being robbed from us,” said the group.

Stating their love for the country, the group said seeing the nation being torn apart had placed upon them the responsibility to speak up against those whose actions had cast a dark shadow over past accomplishments.

To back this up, the group cited the “gross mishandling of the 1MDB crisis.”

“The investigation into this crisis has been compromised due to external interference and intimidation,” the group explained, listing among others, the transfer of MACC top guns, the unexpected retirement of Attorney-General Gani Patail and the sidelining of Bank Negara Malaysia as well as MACC’s recommendations on the probe into Najib’s controversial RM2.6 billion political donation.

These agencies, including the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), were also investigating allegations of corruption and misappropriation within state investment firm 1MDB.

“The media has not been left out from this assault. The Edge, Sarawak Report, Medium and recently, The Malaysian Insider, have all been suspended due to their critical reporting on 1MDB and the prime minister’s alleged corruption scandal.

“We have also seen laws being abused in the name of ‘national security’,” it added, citing the detention of former Batu Kawan Umno Vice-Chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer, Matthias Chang, under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), and the travel ban placed on Opposition leaders Rafizi Ramli and Tony Pua, among others.

The group also referred to the trend Umno had promoted, punishing those from within its own party for merely echoing concerns voiced by the rakyat, suggesting attempts to conceal the truth.

“Our beloved country’s name has been smeared across the world due to this crisis. Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States have all commenced investigations into this matter.

“This has also been covered by news giants like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Aljazeera and many more. The shame which it brings to our beloved country will take years to repair.”