MALAYSIA SLIPS INTO POLITICAL CRISIS: As DPM, Muhyiddin must ask Najib to go on leave, Umno elders must then decide on his fate

Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should ask for a meeting with Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak not only behalf of the Cabinet, but also of Parliament and the country to ask him to go on leave as Prime Minister following the sensational allegations of the Wall Street Journal against Najib.

The WSJ allegations that Malaysian investigators have traced nearly US$700 million of deposits into what they believe are personal bank accounts of Najib, marking the first time

Najib has been directly connected to investigation into the troubled state investment fund, 1MDB.

"The government probe documents what investigators believe to be the movement of cash among government agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB before it ended up in Mr Najib’s personal accounts," WSJ reports.

Muhyiddin Yassin

"Documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal include bank transfer forms and flow charts put together by government investigators that reflect their understanding of the path of the cash."

These allegations are most far-reaching in scope and implication, in particular on good governance and public integrity and accountability, plunging the country into an unprecedented crisis which had never been experienced in Malaysia, as no Prime Minister in Malaysia had ever been singled out in the fashion like Najib for Prime Ministerial misconduct.

The comment by a governent spokesperson to WSJ that Prime Minister Najib had not used any funds for his personal use , the short Prime Minister's Office statement today describing the WSJ revelation as “a continuation of the political sabotage against Najib” and the denial by 1MDB are too flimsy for the occasion – the first time such a grave, serious and even heinous charges of abuse of power and Prime Ministerial misconduct have been levelled by a reputable international publication.

Prime Ministers in developed parliamentary democracies would have no hesitation in going on leave until the serious allegations are cleared, and there is no reason why Najib should be an exception.

In the circumstances, Muhyiddin should personally meet up with Najib today to ask him to go on leave and to let a three-man committee of national elders, comprising two former Prime Ministers Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tun Musa Hitam, to decide whether and the conditions on which Najib should return to resume as Prime Minister before resolution of the WSJ allegation.

Alternatively, Najib should agree to the convening of an emergency meeting of Parliament next seek in view of the unprecedented political crisis facing the country arising form the WSJ allegations.

Lim Kit Siang is MP for Gelang Patah