DAP presses Speaker to check if Najib abused standing orders

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has criticised Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for not responding to queries by Tony Pua on 1Malaysia Development Berhad. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 28, 2015. 

The Dewan Rakyat Speaker has been urged to intervene and determine if Datuk Seri Najib Razak had abused parliamentary standing orders by not answering pertinent questions on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Lim Kit Siang, who is DAP parliamentary leader, criticised the prime minister for dodging questions by colleague Tony Pua on the debt-ridden state investment vehicle.

He said that Najib's actions were more damaging than any answer could have been.

"Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia should intervene and rule whether the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had abused parliamentary standing orders to avoid answering pertinent questions about the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal," Lim said in a statement today.

Pua, who is the Petaling Jaya Utara MP, yesterday asked Najib whether 1MDB's management had only met with PetroSaudi International Limited for the first time on September 23, 2009, five days before both parties inked a deal in London, and whether the agreement was approved by the fund's board of directors at the time.

But, Najib cited the House Standing Order 23(1)(i) to excuse himself from answering the question.

That particular order states that "a question shall not be asked as to whether statements in the press or of private individuals or financial bodies are accurate".

The prime minister, in refusing to answer Pua's question, had said that the issue raised by the DAP lawmaker was based on a news report, whose authenticity cannot be verified.

The news report was from whistleblower site Sarawak Report, which said that the entire 1MDB-PetroSaudi joint venture deal was initiated by businessman Low Taek Jho and his team on September 8, 2009, less than a month before the deal was signed.

Lim said today that Pua's question had not been solely based on the news report but had "specifically asked" whether the maiden 1MDB- Petrsaudi meeting had taken place at the above time.

"This is a blatant abuse of the parliamentary process designed to ensure government accountability and good governance," Lim said of Najib's actions.

Earlier today, Pua today took the Finance Ministry to task for giving "irrelevant answers" on his queries on the troubled government investment arm in the last three days, saying that the ministry should not be relying on answers from the debt-laden firm.

He said two of his queries on 1MDB saw the Finance Ministry citing information given by the 1MDB management to the ministry.

Pua said this was highly irresponsible as it meant the answers are based on hearsay.

- TMI