Rais says he will not quit, describes Jasa officer as ‘stooge’

Rais Yatim will only quit his position as special adviser to the government, which carries a rank equivalent to a minister, if the prime minister asks him to do so but not upon the urging of a "stooge".

"Jasa officer Tun Faisal asked me to resign as the government's adviser. I just asked for Jho Low to be investigated… If the PM tells me to retire, only then I would.

"Be patient, Tun F (Faisal), I have contacted the PM. Let him decide. This cannot be decided by a stooge," Rais tweeted in Bahasa Malaysia today.

The veteran politician was responding to Special Affairs Department (Jasa) advisory panel member Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz's remark that “persons with ministerial rank” should use "proper channels" to air their grievances, or else quit their position.

This was in response to Rais' Twitter postings on the apparent support shown by certain quarters for 1MDB-linked personality Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.

On Wednesday, Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz had also criticised both Rais and former minister Rafidah Aziz for speaking out on 1MDB, claiming they harboured a grudge against the current government for being dropped as ministers.

Earlier this month, Rais had in a series of Twitter postings panned Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak for defending Jho Low and labelling reports about his ownership of superyacht Equanimity as "fake news."

Rafidah, meanwhile, questioned why the authorities could not find Equanimity when she managed to do so a year ago, while holidaying in the Thai resort island of Phuket.

The 1MDB is being investigated in at least eight countries and had been described as the worst case of kleptocracy the world has seen.

US authorities believe that at least US$4.5 billion in 1MDB funds have been misappropriated and allegedly laundered through the financial system in the US and other countries, and the country's Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to seize US$1.7 billion in assets it claimed were acquired using stolen money.

1MDB has denied any misappropriation of its money. -Mkini