Najib had the right, but was he right?

Teresa Kok questions the validity of the PM's decision to expel Muhyiddin and Shafie from his cabinet.

KUALA LUMPUR: The question is not whether it is the Prime Minister’s prerogative to sack members of his cabinet, but whether he has exercised his right to do so fairly and with justice, according to DAP vice-chairperson Teresa Kok.

The Seputeh MP accused Prime Minister Najib Razak of punishing Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal for speaking up on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

“If an independent public opinion survey is carried out, I am sure the result will show that Malaysians are more convinced that Muhyiddin and Shafie have been punished simply because they spoke out against 1MDB,” she said in a press statement today.

“Najib will find that his justification that cabinet members ‘should not air their differences in an open forum that can affect public opinion against the government and Malaysia’ is not satisfactory to Malaysians, including Umno members,” she said.

She called for the establishment of a royal commission to investigate the 1MDB issue.

“A royal commission of inquiry into the 1MDB scandal is long overdue,” she said. “Najib must not delay its setting up any longer.”

Her statement also referred to the leaked video recording in which Muhyiddin is heard telling guests at his house about the US$700 million allegedly transferred into Najib’s personal bank account.

She noted Muhyiddin’s claim that Najib admitted receiving the money. She asked whether the prime minister was prepared to deny the allegation.