DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has urged Malaysians to show their gratitude to former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak over the latter's interview with Al Jazeera on Friday.
The interview, he said, saw Najib admitting for the first time that 1MDB money was misappropriated.
He pointed to one particular portion of the interview, during which Najib said: "We want to know where the money flowed to. And who really benefited from the whole 1MDB issue. I would like to know, too."
To Lim, this was finally an admission by Najib that the 1MDB affair was not one concocted by his political enemies, but instead a serious scandal whose perpetrators must be brought to justice.
He said that this stood in stark contrast to when Najib's supporters and his cabinet ministers would "mindlessly" defend him over the 1MDB affair.
"Najib was not only virtually admitting that through the 1MDB scandal, Malaysia under his administration became a global kleptocracy, but it also became a kakistocracy.
"His government not only had a cabinet minister who cannot tell the difference between a turtle egg and chicken egg; he as prime minister, finance minister and chairperson of the 1MDB advisory board, which must give approval for all major decisions in 1MDB, did not know what was happening in 1MDB!
"Is this credible and acceptable for a prime minister?" asked Lim.
Lim was referring to Najib's interview with Mary Ann Jolley for Al Jazeera's "101 East" programme.
He described it as a "semi-aborted" interview because Najib threatened to leave the interview midway after things got heated, but eventually decided against it.
'Interesting story'
On Friday, Najib apologised for losing his cool because of Jolley's line of questioning, and attributed it to the stress of authorities recording statements from his family members when the interview was being conducted.
On Najib's claim that the much-publicised 22-carat pink diamond – allegedly purchased using funds from 1MDB – was a gift from a UAE prince, Lim said what was more interesting was that the former premier did not know what became of the jewel.
"Najib claims that Rosmah had not received the 22-carat pink diamond necklace. Has the US$23.7 million pink diamond necklace been stolen? This should be an interesting story," he said.
Lim also accused Najib of dishonesty over the latter's relationship with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho.
During the interview with Al Jazeera, Najib said his friendship with Low stemmed from the latter's links with the UAE royals.
"Why didn't Najib mention Low's failed special assignment in the 2013 general election pouring tens of millions of ringgit in Penang?
"Low even brought the top South Korean pop star group of 'Opah Gangnam Style' (sic) to topple the DAP-led Penang state government," he said.
Low was a prominent campaigner for Penang BN during the 2013 election, and was associated with the shadowy 1Malaysia Club which hosted elaborate concerts and dinner events.
The highlight of the campaign was a Penang BN Chinese New Year open house event, where Korean pop star Psy sang his most famous song "Gangnam Style" – the first song with one billion views on YouTube – twice.
However, that event backfired because when Najib took the stage to introduce Psy, he asked the crowd if they were "ready for BN," which was met with loud "No" and laughter from the audience. - Mkini
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