Shahbudin: Najib has until midnight to settle 1MDB issue

The Prime Minister promised 1,500 Umno Information Chiefs and Umno Secretaries from throughout the country, who gathered in Kuala Lumpur on June 14, that he would settle the 1MDB issue by December 31 this year.

KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst fears that 2016 may yet turn out to be an empty year. The analyst wonders whether the 1,500 Umno Information Chiefs and Umno Secretaries from throughout the country, who gathered in Kuala Lumpur on June 14, still remember Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s promise to them and the nation. “If there had been no promise and guarantee to them by Najib on June 14, would they still have pledged loyalty to him?”

Shahbudin Husin the analyst said in his latest blog posting that Najib, wherever he’s at the moment – Dubai, Hong Kong or elsewhere – still has until 12 midnight on Thursday to make good a promise before the curtains come down on 2015, on a year of trials and tribulations. “He did promise on June 14 this year, before 1,500 Umno Information Chiefs and Umno Secretaries from throughout the country, that the 1MDB issue will be settled by December 31 this year.”

However, said the analyst, nothing much has transpired since then apart from the forced sale of 1MDB subsidiary Edra Global Energy, a valuable asset, to a state-owned firm in China. “The question that arises is when the 1MDB debts would be settled.”

Shahbudin, on second thoughts, has been reduced to wondering whether settling the 1MDB issue meant sacking Umno Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin from the Cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, and also getting rid of Umno Vice-President Shafie Apdal at the same time as a Federal Minister. “The Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail was also removed, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reshuffled and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) came under pressure.”

Again, said the analyst, if Najib can make good his June 14 promise as generally understood, it would suffice for the moment although he has broken many promises that he made during the 13th General Election in 2013. “If Najib breaks his June 14 promise, then nothing can be expected from him in the new year.”

“It’s clear that besides disappointing the people, Najib would have disappointed Umno members and leaders themselves.”