Is Najib willing to be probed over Scorpene deal, asks Kit Siang

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang today questioned if Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is prepared to be investigated over the Scorpene deal.

He raised the question following reports that two key figures involved in the submarine deal were charged with graft in France. 

"Is Najib prepared to subject himself to full corruption investigations into the Scorpene submarine deal 15 years ago, when he was the defence minister?" Lim asked in a statement today.

The charged officials were Phillippe Japiot, former chairperson of French naval dockyards unit DCNI and Jean-Paul Perrier, former chief executive of the French defence and electronics giant Thales.

Lim, who is also Gelang Patah MP, urged Najib to explain the fiasco.

"I have several questions for Najib. Firstly, did the cabinet discuss the subject at its weekly meeting today, as there was ample time for a report on the matter to be made to the cabinet, and if so, what is the outcome of the cabinet discussion?

"Secondly, are the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC), the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) reopening investigations into corruption allegations connected with the French Scorpene submarine sale to Malaysia, and if not, why?"

Lim questioned why the government could not open a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the submarine deal if it can do the same for forex losses involving Bank Negara. 

"If this was because the prime minister himself, who was the defence minister at the time, would be the subject of investigations into the Scorpene submarine corruption deal?" Lim asked, urging Najib to also present a white paper on the matter when the Parliament sitting commences next Monday. 

An investigation into the submarine deal was launched in 2010 after human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) filed a complaint in France in November 2009. 

The investigation was to determine if Najib had received kickbacks via his former close associate, Abdul Razak Baginda, for a contract to supply the two Scorpene submarines to Malaysia. - Mkini