Opposition parties are planning to hold a rally in September in response to the United States Department of Justice's (DOJ) latest court filing on the 1MDB issue.
Under the tagline "Sayang Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi" (Love Malaysia, Eliminate Kleptocracy), the move is among the actions to be taken by the newly formed 1MDB Action Committee, which was set up to coordinate the opposition response to the 1MDB issue.
The run-up to the rally would kick-off with a nationwide roadshow to explain the issue to the public, and would start on July 6 in Kepala Batas, Penang.
“We will do this (rally). It is in our plans. We will go to the people.
“Sometimes people don't feel the 1MDB issue is related (to their lives), so we would approach them with a roadshow,” said opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also the pro-tem chairperson of the action committee.
However, she said details of the rally, such as the date and venue, are still being planned.
She was speaking to reporters after chairing a 1MDB Action Committee meeting together with representatives from DAP, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah), Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) at her office in the parliament complex today.
“We urge all opposition parties to set aside differences, cooperate, and join forces to bring those involved in the (alleged) misappropriation of 1MDB (funds) to justice,” she added.
Wan Azizah said Parti Warisan Sabah – led by former minister Mohd Shafie Apdal - is agreeable to the committee's actions as well, but was unable to send a representative to the meeting.
Letter sent to PAS
Asked about PAS, Wan Azizah said the committee had sent a letter to the Islamist party but had not received a response.
Previously, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had warned against foreign meddling in the 1MDB matter.
Meanwhile, the committee urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to call for an emergency parliamentary session as soon as possible to table a white paper on 1MDB, and explain the facts of the 1MDB case.
“These facts should answer all questions that people have raised. The statements of some ministers that the allegations are politically motivated or are foreign intervention is not enough to answer all the issues that were raised.
“If the government does not want the people to get carried away with the DOJ’s allegations, the government should answer all the allegations by tabling the investigation reports from enforcement agencies through the white paper,” Wan Azizah said.
She also urged the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia, and the police to reopen investigations into 1MDB.
She said it is an embarrassment to the country that agencies in at least nine foreign countries have investigated the scandal, but the investigations in Malaysia are closed.
For the record, the police have at least one ongoing investigation on 1MDB, which is based on the Public Account Committee's report on the company last year.
Inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters on Sunday that the AGC had told the police to investigate the matter, and the probe is still ongoing.
Wan Azizah said the opposition would lodge reports with the MACC and Bank Negara “as soon as possible” following the DOJ court filings.
The June 15 filing is the third in DOJ's civil forfeiture suits to seize property that was supposedly bought with money allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.
It revealed new details on how money was supposedly misappropriated from 1MDB in four phases and spent, raising the total amount allegedly misappropriated to over US$4.5 billion (RM19.3 billion).
The DOJ is seizing assets totalling nearly US$1.7 billion (RM7.3 billion) that had been traced through the US financial system.
1MDB had responded to the lawsuit saying there is no proof that money had been misappropriated from the company.- Mkini
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