MAHATHIR SCORNS ‘PRETEND TO BE STUPID’ NAJIB: ‘WHO WANTS TO BELIEVE HIM WHEN HE SIGNED HIS NAME TO ALL THE SRC PAYMENTS – LUCKILY WE GOT RID OF HIM OR MALAYSIA WOULD BE DOWN ANOTHER RM300 BILLION IN DEBT’

PUTRAJAYA― Malaysia would incur RM300 billion more debt if Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Barisan Nasional (BN) had won the general election, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Thanking Malaysians for voting to deliver a shocking blow to the coalition that had ruled for six decades, the prime minister said BN would need to borrow more on top of the RM1 trillion liabilities already revealed just to deliver some of its manifesto pledges.

“You’ve done a great job of getting rid of Najib, and had he won we would incur another RM300 billion of debt,” Dr Mahathir said in an exclusive interview with Malay Mail at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here.

The Pakatan Harapan chairman said Najib had promised between RM60 to 80 billion in allocations to each state if BN won Putrajaya in the May 9 general election.

“Where is he going to get the money? Any thinking man would know he has to borrow, and if he’s borrowing, he’s going to add to the debt,” he said.

It is unclear how Dr Mahathir arrived at the figure as he did not elaborate. An allocation of at least RM60 billion for 14 states would be RM840 billion, while RM300 billion would give each state just over RM20 billion on average.

Malay Mail could not find the specific promises Dr Mahathir mentioned in BN’s election manifesto, and has requested clarification with the coalition.

Last month, newly-minted Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng revealed that Putrajaya debt and liabilities are at RM1.087 trillion, or 80.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Broken down, this included the federal government debt of RM686.8 billion, government guarantees (RM199.1 billion), and lease payments for public-private projects (RM201.4 billion).

Putrajaya has since launched the crowd-funded Tabung Harapan Malaysia in a symbolic bid to cut down the debt, which has collected RM89,127,407.24 as at 3pm yesterday.

In response, Najib had then accused Lim of being “reckless” in discussing Malaysia’s financial state, claiming the latter was using “guesstimation” to arrive at key figures that could move markets.

Dr Mahathir has previously claimed that many of the figures recording the country’s financial position may be false.

He told Malay Mail today that the debts are already over 80 per cent of the country’s GDP, denying again Najib’s claim otherwise.

“People don’t calculate, you see? He said we’re within our borrowing limit, but it’s not. It goes beyond that limit,” he added. – MALAY MAIL

‘Najib always assumes people are stupid,’ Dr M says

PUTRAJAYA — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bluff today, after the latter claimed that the alleged embezzlement of funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was kept secret from him.

The seventh prime minister told Malay Mail in an exclusive interview today that it was impossible for his immediate predecessor to be unaware of the transactions when Najib’s signature was all over the related documents.

“Who wants to believe him that he didn’t know, when he signed [his name]? Every bit of money that goes in and out of the first borrowing of RM42 billion, all his signature.

“If he doesn’t know, it must be that he doesn’t understand what a signature means,” Dr Mahathir said.

1MDB had amassed RM42 billion in debt in the years since its inception in 2009, and Dr Mahathir had questioned its whereabouts since 2015.

In June 2015, 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy had attempted to explain where the money went, and provided a detailed breakdown.

Speaking to international news agency Reuters in a report published yesterday, Najib blamed his advisers and the 1MDB board for not disclosing the alleged embezzlement to him.

Najib claimed he was unaware that the money moved through his personal account was from 1MDB, and if it was laundered to buy assets which included yachts, paintings, jewellery, and real estate.

“We have all those. We know how much money goes into his account,” Dr Mahathir commented today, referring to the documents proving Najib’s involvement in moving the money.

Dr Mahathir had earlier this week told Reuters that the authorities have “an almost perfect case” against Najib to charge him of embezzlement, misappropriation and bribery.

Dr Mahathir told Malay Mail that it is ludicrous for someone to direct RM2 billion to be transferred into his account, but at the same time refusing to be informed of the transaction.

He was referring to the around US$700 million that was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB into Najib’s account, as detailed by the US Department of Justice’s anti-kleptocracy probe.

“This cannot be. Because I have to sign to use the money. To use the money, I have to issue cheques.

“Najib always assumes that people are stupid,” Dr Mahathir added.

The prime minister has told Reuters that investigators are looking to bring “a number of charges” against Najib, based on abuse of power when he was prime minister.

He also was quoted saying that Malaysia is expected to make its first arrest in the 1MDB case within months and “hopefully” start a trial by the end of the year. – MALAY MAIL

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