Rival Islamist parties PAS and Amanah agree that despite claims of a multi-billion-ringgit donation to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak from a Saudi royal was to be used for Islamic development, there doesn't seem to be much to show for it.
PAS vice-president Iskandar Abdul Samad said that if Najib really did spent the money to develop Islam and help Muslims, there would be nary a poor Muslim in the country.
"If it is true that the Saudi prince gave RM2.6 billion to the PM for Islam, surely there should be no more poor Muslims in Malaysia. All would have their own house and all Muslim students would get scholarships," he told Malaysiakini.
He was referring to a letter obtained by Australian media which detailed how Najib purportedly received US$375 million from an Arab prince in 2011.
The donation was said to be one of several transfers made by the prince between 2011 and 2013, and according to the letter, was supposed to be a gift to Najib for his role in fighting for Islam and holding true to the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamah school of Islamic thought.
Asked about the matter separately, Ahmad Awang, spiritual adviser to PAS splinter and sworn political enemy Amanah, appeared to concur with Iskandar, saying that he too saw no improvements in the plight of Muslims in the country ever since Najib purportedly received the donated funds.
"On the contrary, things may have gotten worse for Muslims, none of the Islamic movements were given government aid.
"Even if Najib has an NGO (that he aided), it would be the ‘wasatiyyah’ (moderate) ones. If the money was for helping develop Islam, I didn’t see any of it," he said.
Why return bulk of the money?
Ahmad, who was once Pusat Islam director, also questioned why Najib returned the bulk of the donation if he really wanted to do more to develop Islam.
"The matter of the funds given by (the) Arab Saudi (prince) is too confusing as it was transferred into Najib's personal accounts, but he returned them!
"If he had wanted to use it to develop Islam, why would Najib return the money?" he asked.
Meanwhile, Amanah deputy chairperson Salahuddin Ayub said that the issue of the donation that Najib received is tainting the nation's image in the eyes of the world.
He too agreed that he did not see any improvement to the lot of Muslims in the country after Najib supposedly received the donation.
Salahuddin urged Najib and the Saudi government to provide proof on the RM2.6 million donation.
"There must be documentation for that amount of money. If Najib and the Saudi government wants to clear his name, they must reveal the documents," he said.
Prior to this, attorney-general Apandi Ali said that Najib had returned most of the RM2.6 billion that he received from the Saudi royal family member.
Apandi had said that in August 2013, US$620 (RM2.03 million) was repatriated to the Saudi royal family because the funds remained unused.
However, he said the funds were given privately to Najib and there were no Malaysian laws against it, as such he cleared Najib of wrongdoing relating to the donation. -Mkini
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