Mahathir has a lot of explaining to do. He needs to show the source of his family’s wealth. Where did their billions come from? At the moment it looks like this is where the missing RM25.8 billion of Bank Negara’s money may have disappeared to. The only way we will know that Mahathir and family did not steal RM25.8 billion of Bank Negara’s money would be for them to prove it.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Today, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, “I Didn’t Tell Anyone To Pay For George Bush Meeting” (READ HERE). Mahathir, who is the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan, was referring to the allegation made by Megat Junid Megat Ayub’s son, Megat Fairouz Junaidi, that Mahathir paid US$1.2 million to meet President Bush in 2002.
“I’m not sure whether this statement is true or not. Maybe the Wisma Putra official who arranged my visit to the US will know. All I know is that there were no instructions from me to lobby for a meeting,” said Mahathir.
But then more than ten-and-a-half years ago back in February 2006 Mahathir said something else (READ BELOW). In classic Mahathir style he said ‘somebody’ had paid US$1.2 million for him to meet Bush but it was not him and he does not know who did.
This is the way Mahathir handles things and deflects allegations made against him. In the Perwaja case he says he was not in charge, Eric Chia was. In the PKFZ case he says he cannot remember, Ling Liong Sik was in charge. In the Bank Negara case he says he was not informed, the Bank Negara Governor was in charge, but then losing money gambling on the forex market is ‘normal’. In his son’s shipping case he says his son lost money and Petronas made a huge profit at the expense of his son because Anwar Ibrahim paid only RM1 billion instead of RM2 billion, so it cannot be considered a bailout since Petronas made money.
And the list goes on. RM200 billion of Malaysian taxpayers’ money has disappeared into thin air and it is always someone else’s fault and never his. He was never informed. He cannot remember. He did not make the decision. It is God’s will. That is normal in life. What goes around comes around. Easy come, easy go. What goes up must come down. It is only money.
Mahathir’s excuses are going to be the subject of a PhD in time to come when a special course is held called ‘How to screw up and then blame it on others’. This is like blaming a rape victim for getting raped because she dressed too sexily and was ‘begging’ to be raped. Yes, blame the rape on the rape victim and turn the rapist into the victim instead.
Mahathir initially alleged that RM42 billion of 1MDB’s money had disappeared into thin air. That has now been proven a lie so they changed the story to RM2.6 billion was transferred to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s personal bank account instead. And now they are banging away on that RM2.6 billion story hoping that this story can bring down Umno and Barisan Nasional in the next general election.
The RCI has just concluded its inquiry into the Bank Negara forex scandal this week and it looks like RM31.5 billion of Bank Negara’s money has disappeared into thin air. What is interesting is only RM5.7 billion was lost gambling on the forex market. But then if RM31.5 billion has disappeared into thin air where is the difference of RM25.8 billion?
So there you have it. Mahathir should remember the saying that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Mahathir threw stones at Najib and broke his own glass house. Now Mahathir has to explain where is RM25.8 billion of Bank Negara’s money.
Mahathir and family are worth billions. The question is how could they become billionaires in such a short time when it took 60 years or more for the other Malaysian billionaire families to become billionaires? (READ HERE:RM5.7 Billion Lost Gambling So Where Is RM25.8 Billion More?)
Mahathir has a lot of explaining to do. He needs to show the source of his family’s wealth. Where did their billions come from? At the moment it looks like this is where the missing RM25.8 billion of Bank Negara’s money may have disappeared to. The only way we will know that Mahathir and family did not steal RM25.8 billion of Bank Negara’s money would be for them to prove it.
What is even more interesting is that old cock Chinaman, Lim Kit Siang, who boasted that he has spoken and written ten million words in his political career now appears to be lost for words. Mahathir is Pakatan Harapan’s Chairman. Why is Kit Siang keeping quiet? The RCI has proven that RM31.5 billion of Bank Negara’s money has disappeared into thin air but only RM5.7 billion was lost gambling on the forex market. Does Kit Siang not want to know what happened to the difference of RM25.8 billion?
Before this, for more than 20 years, Kit Siang talked so much. And most times he talks cock. Now he seems to have something stuck in his throat. Kit Siang’s silence is so deafening. Mahathir is his Chairman. So say something! Why divert the whole issue to the “Better Beer Festival 2017”? Kit Siang wants to distract people with that beer festival non-issue to stop people from talking about the missing RM25.8 billion.
Mahathir and Kit Siang have both lost it. They should stop talking about who from Pakatan Harapan is going to be the seventh and eight Prime Minister of Malaysia. Why quarrel over an illusion? Pakatan Harapan is never going to win the next general election. They should instead discuss whether they can even deny Barisan Nasional its two-thirds majority in Parliament. Even that is not sure yet. Why would Malaysians want to vote for an opposition coalition whose Chairman cost the taxpayers RM200 billion and whose family stole billions?
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Fee paid to meet Bush
(The Star, 21 February 2006) – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admits that “somebody” paid a lobby fee – purportedly US$1.2mil (RM4.56mil) – to arrange his meeting with United States president George W. Bush in 2002.
“I don’t think the (Malaysian) Government paid. But I must admit the Heritage Foundation (a US think tank) arranged it. They talked me into meeting Bush because they said I would be able to influence him in some way regarding US policies.”
“Secondly, it would be good for Malaysia if the relationship between Malaysia and the United States improved. It is true that somebody paid. But I don’t think it was the Government,” he added.
A recent report in the Los Angeles Times said the Malaysian Government called on a lobbyist when it arranged for a meeting between Bush and Dr Mahathir in 2002. The report claimed that the lobbyist was paid US$1.2mil by the Malaysian Government for his services in 2001 and 2002. E-mails of the report and a photograph of Dr Mahathir shaking hands with Bush were circulated online recently.
The Washington Post recently reported that the number of lobbyists in the US capital has doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 while the amount the lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100%. Experts say the lobbying boom has been caused by rapid growth in government, Republican control of both the White House and Congress, and widespread acceptance among corporations that they need to hire professional lobbyists to secure federal benefits.
Dr Mahathir said in the United States, the practice to see a leader was to go through a lobbyist, who had to be paid. “I did not touch the money. But, I think somebody paid. That is their practice,” he said. “That is their system. It is not corruption at all. It is very open.”
Earlier this year, high-flying Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion in a deal to cooperate in a federal corruption probe in Washington. He once described Native Americans as tribes and his clients – from whom he got an estimated US$66mil (RM245mil) – as monkeys, troglodytes and idiots.
He could be jailed up to 11 years and made to pay US$26.7mil (RM99.3mil) in retribution. Abramoff admitted to corrupting government officials and defrauding his own clients of US$25mil (RM93mil).
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