Forget 1MDB debate, focus on main issues, says Rafidah

Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz says enough debate is taking place among the people on the issues surrounding 1MDB, and anything which takes away the focus from the main investigation is not a good thing. – The Malaysian Insider pic, November 4, 2015.Malaysia needs to focus on the main storyline and not subplots that are merely causing a distraction from the real issues, a former Umno minister said today.

Posting on Facebook, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz, who was referring to the much talked about debate between DAP lawmaker Tony Pua and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) president Arul Kanda Kandasamy, said that instead of debates and mudslinging, what was urgently needed was to get on with the investigations and address the issues at hand.

"We don't need an Arul-Pua debate on the issues.

"There are already, and will continuously be, enough subject matter of debate amongst the people," she said.

Rafidah, a former international trade and industry minister, also pointed out that just because there was no debate in the print media, that did not mean that the feelings, concerns and opinions were not being registered.

She added that even in social media, many were now seen to be more careful about voicing their opinions and expressing their concerns.

"We have had rallies and displays of verbal wars... reflecting cracks in our national unity.

"There have been retirement of key people having to do with the investigation processes, and arrests which seem to point to intolerance for any dissent, and differences in opinions.

"Now we are witnessing the spectacle of hoo-hahs over a proposed public debate. But, actually, there is already widespread public debate out there," she wrote.

But Rafidah said that instead of looking at resolving issues and getting answers to the burning questions, there were distractions that were blurring the main issues.

"Some seem to be distracted by other things, which will continue to sap energy, and blur focus from what should be, the main issues.

"Focus on the main storyline, not the subplots which are merely distracting, and taking away precious time and serious attention," she said.

Rafidah has taken to Facebook recently to express unhappiness at the state of affairs in Malaysia, where Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is under pressure over alleged financial scandals involving his brainchild, 1MDB, and a political donation of RM2.6 billion deposited into his bank accounts.

- TMI