Najib’s ‘don't think I'm a crook’ a first for Malaysia - Kit Siang

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s speech telling his party members not to think he is a “crook” is a tragic episode in Malaysia’s history, said opposition MP Lim Kit Siang.

“It is sad and tragic because this is the first time in the 59-year history of the nation that the prime minister of Malaysia (Najib is the sixth PM in the country) had to make such a pathetic protestation,” said the Gelang Patah MP in a statement.

“Secondly, Najib's lament will do nothing to dispel the growing global perception that Malaysia under the Najib premiership is topping the world in corruption scandals,” he added.

He was referring to Najib’s address to a gathering of Umno and BN supporters in Kuantan yesterday where the embattled premiere said, “Don’t think I am a crook, don’t think I steal the people’s property, I am the prime minister for the people.”

Lim pointed to TIME magazine citing Malaysia as the "second worst example of current global corruption", along with the slide in Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2015 and No. 3 ranking in the world's ‘worst corruption scandals in 2015’ as damning on the Najib administration's serious corruption problem.

“If Najib is fully conscious of his national responsibility and patriotic duty as prime minister, he should be taking very pro-active positions to initiate full, thorough and independent investigations into his twin mega scandals,” said Lim.

Instead, said the Gelang Patah MP, it was “surprising and disappointing” that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has declined to comment on Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said telling Parliament its probe proved Najib was not involved in the case of SRC International.

“If the MACC dares not even comment on whether Azalina's parliamentary reply was correct or incorrect, […] what credibility could the MACC command that it would dare to carry out its anti-corruption functions ‘without fear or favour’, regardless of whether it is ‘ikan bilis’ (small fry) or ‘ikan yu’ (shark)?” he asked.

Lim said following Najib’s landmark speech yesterday, the prime minister should then “start on a new page of full accountability of the twin mega scandals during the Ministerial winding up in Parliament next week”. -Mkini