Don’t be surprised if the RM2.6b donor remains a mystery forever

No matter what, the RM2.6 billion issue will heat up and become even more controversial if public expectations are not met, says Shahbudin Husin.

KUALA LUMPUR: Many questions have arisen, said a political analyst in his latest blog posting, in the wake of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) disclosing that the results of its investigations into the RM2.6 billion political “donation” controversy would be made known next week.

“If the Attorney General (AG) decides that there’s no case to answer, how will he justify that decision? If there was no MACC investigation, there are no prizes for guessing the AG’s decision.”

The most important issue, said Shahbudin Husin the analyst, was whether the Attorney-General’s decision would be accepted by the people.

No matter what, added the analyst, the issue will heat up and become even more controversial if public expectations are not met. “This will have repercussions at the 14th General Election in 2018.”

“Already, it’s an uphill task for Umno/Barisan Nasional (BN) with Najib remaining as Prime Minister.”

Shahbudin was commenting on whether the MACC investigation would be transparent, professional and fair as the anti-graft body had pledged. “If public expectations are not met, there’s no way that the public would be convinced that MACC had done a good job.

The analyst does not rule out the same scenario involving Bank Negara repeating itself. The central bank had recommended that charges be brought against 1MDB but the AG decided that there was no case to answer.

The RM2.6 billion political “donation” from the Middle East, which entered Najib’s personal accounts before the last General Election in 2013, remains a mystery, the analyst points out. The jury remains out on whether the AG will disclose the identity of the donor which the MACC knows but has declined to divulge. “It won’t be surprising if the identity of the donor remains a mystery and a secret forever.”