Stop 1MDB song and dance, minister tells Pua-Rafizi pair

BN strategy director Abdul Rahman Dahlan has grown tired of opposition lawmakers Rafizi Ramli and Tony Pua who he says are recycling allegations against 1MDB.

"This song and dance show is a desperate attempt by the opposition to keep the 1MDB issue alive when, in reality, it is no longer a critical issue," Rahman is quoted as saying today by Bernama.

He said the opposition should end its political games and accept the fact that 1MDB has been successful in its rationalisation efforts.

Rahman noted how Pua made potentially defamatory claims that 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy was covering up for billions in losses.

He went on to accuse Rafizi of lending his voice to the chorus by repeating stale news and information.

Rahman said Pua appears to have concluded that billions of ringgit had been stolen from 1MDB despite the fact that the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into 1MDB and the auditor-general's special audit on the firm were drawing to a close.

"Both the PAC inquiry and the auditor-general's report are based on evidence and proof and should be respected as the true sources to determine whether billions have been stolen," he said.

Rahman also said he had always harboured the suspicion that the opposition did not want the 1MDB rationalisation plan to succeed.

He said his suspicion was reinforced yesterday when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that he instructed the Penang local authorities to block any sale of 1MDB's RM1.3 billion land, by giving the excuse that 1MDB's funds were public money and 1MDB did not have 100 percent ownership of the land.

"But strangely, the Penang government had no problem approving 1MDB's purchase of the very same land in 2013 and collected the various fees from the land transfer. But when 1MDB wants to sell the land as part of its rationalisation efforts, Penang has blocked it," he said.

"To me, this is a clear case of sabotage of 1MDB's rationalisation efforts and without any legal or rational basis." -Mkini