Thursday, December 1, 2011

Pak Lah: I've no role in NFC fiasco

Former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says he cannot be held responsible for alleged wrongdoings in respect of the on-going investigations into the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

Abdullah, who was prime minister since 2004 and early 2009, said the project may have been given out during his time.

Last day of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Najib Abdul Razak takes over as prime minister in Putrajaya"However, so many things have happened between then and now. So I cannot be responsible for what happens after that.

"When they want something, they have an argument, they have a basis why approval could be given. So what happens after that has nothing to do with me," he added.

Abdullah, who is affectionately referred to as Pak Lah, said this to reporters during his visit to the special media centre prepared for the Umno annual general assembly.

Asked whether the NFC project was given out by tender or whether there was a bid for it, Abdullah said he had "no comment".

On whether Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil should resign as a result of the NFC fiasco, he said he did not want to answer that as it would be speculative.

"It is not fair (to her). Its not her business, it's her husband's," he said.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said today initial investigations revealed no criminal breach of trust elements in police investigations, even though they have yet to interview Shahrizat.

'Perceptions are dangerous'


Asked about the perception that Shahrizat was involved in the NFC scandal, Abdullah said such perception was a dangerous thing.

"Sometimes, we make a perception as if it is true. I know in politics perception can kill many people.

"We should not allow ourselves to be influenced by such things and that what we say is only perception, for perception can kill," he said.

A lot of politicians all over the world, Abdullah said, have had a lot of problems because of perceptions they may have faced.

"A lot of them are unnecessary," he said.

Asked how he felt BN and Umno would fare in the coming general election, Abdullah said they had to be prepared.

"If we have problems, we have to attend to the problems. If these have surfaced, we must face and resolve them.

"That is what Umno has been doing as before and we have to be more efficient in handling these," he said.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.