Razaleigh: Lift the secrecy about 1MDB

Unconstitutional to classify audit report, transparency needed in keeping with Najib's statement of nothing to hide.

PETALING JAYA: Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah urged the government today to end the secrecy about 1Malaysia Development Bhd by declassifying the Auditor-General’s report to Parliament on the affairs of the federal investment arm.

In a statement today, he said the classification of the report as an official secret was untenable.

He said any comments about 1MDB, arguably the country’s biggest financial scandal, would not be meaningful unless the comments were based upon the report.

The Auditor-General conducted an investigation into the financial affairs of the company following controversy about its various investments and transactions.

Its report was presented to the Public Accounts Committee, parliament’s watchdog on government expenditure, as part of parliamentary hearings into the company.

“Unfortunately that report has been classified under the Official Secrets Act. This is untenable. The Auditor General’s Report on 1MDB must be declassified and made available to MPs and, by extension, to the general public,” said Tengku Razaleigh, MP for Gua Musang, and the longest-serving member of Parliament.

He pointed out that Prime Minister Najib Razak had stated that the Auditor General should get to the bottom of the 1MDB issue and submit his findings to the Dewan Rakyat.

“The Prime Minster alluded to the notion that there is nothing to hide and that those found to have done wrong would have to face the law,” he said.

He said it would be unconstitutional to prevent the report from being presented to the Dewan Rakyat. “Transparency should be the order of the day and nothing should be hidden or concealed” in the spirit of the constitution, he said. The Federal Constitution must be strictly followed and upheld, being the supreme law of the nation.

He called for the cloak of secrecy to be lifted in order to put a stop to the anxiety and angst of the public who feel cheated and denied the right to know the real situation.