DPM told to drop double act on 1MDB

He can’t condemn 1MDB only as an Umno leader and not say anything about the scandal as a Cabinet member, says Shahbudin Husin.

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin can no longer play safe and state his position on 1MDB only as an Umno leader while remaining quiet on the issue as a member of the Federal Cabinet, political analyst Shahbudin Husin says in his latest blog posting.

“He cannot take the stand that he does not know anything as a Cabinet member,” he says. “The people want to know whether he fears losing his job more than he fears God.”

Shahbudin agrees with Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the Cabinet has collective responsibility and cannot expect Prime Minister Najib Abdullah Razak alone to state his stand on 1MDB.

“Tengku Razaleigh knows what he’s talking about since he left the Cabinet in 1986 when he disagreed with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s policies,” he says.

“The Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club, Shahrir Abdul Samad, has also stated that Cabinet members cannot wash their hands off the 1MDB issue.

“It’s Muhyiddin’s turn now, after Najib, to speak up on 1MDB as a Cabinet member.”

Shahbudin notes that the Cabinet has made a decision to let the Auditor-General to vet the 1MDB accounts and for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to come in. He also notes that Shahrir has said it would only be proper for Cabinet members who disagree with that decision to step down.

“So far,” he says, “Muhyiddin has been concerned only with the 3.6 million Umno members. It’s time now that he, as Deputy Prime Minister, share his thoughts on 1MDB with the 30 million citizens.

“It must be kept in mind that the crisis generated by 1MDB has raised concerns among the general population, and not just Umno members.”

Shahbudin reminded Muhyiddin that he spoke before four Umno divisions recently in Janda Baik and called, in no uncertain terms, for the 1MDB Board to be sacked and the police to be called in to investigate the scandal.

What remains, he says, is for the Deputy Prime Minister to state his stand as a member of the Cabinet.

“If it’s true that he fears only God, Muhyiddin has no choice but to immediately stop playing safe in the 1MDB issue. He must make his stand clear.”