MAHATHIR DROPS BOMBSHELL AS THOUSANDS CROWD HIS RALLY: ‘NAJIB MADE OIL-RICH TERENGGANU HIS PERSONAL TREASURE CHEST – THAT’S WHY HE SET UP TIA, THE MOTHER OF 1MDB’

Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has made oil-rich Terengganu his personal treasure chest, Pakatan Harapan (Harapan) has claimed.

Speaking to a crowd during a ceramah in Dungun, Terengganu last night, Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad cited the setting up of the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) in 2008, as an example.

“Najib, as the prime minister, does not have much money, I know because I was once a prime minister too. Want to bribe, not enough. If it’s RM10 or RM20 can lah, but Najib wants to give billions, and he does not have it, so he had to find it.

“That’s when he saw Terengganu. This state has oil that has the potential to be an oil producer. Hence, TIA was set up,” he said.

According to Mahathir, Najib “pawned” the oil produced by Terengganu, through the TIA, for five years.

However, the matter was not agreed to by the (Terengganu) Sultan, and Najib was forced to set up a company to manage the country’s wealth, like in Kuwait.

“Yes, in Kuwait they produce so much oil that the money cannot be spent enough to run the country, so the surplus, they put into a company to manage the sovereign wealth.

“It is not a loan, but proceeds from Kuwait’s sales of petroleum. But in Malaysia, we are not a huge petroleum producer, so whatever money we have, we have to distribute it to all the states in the country,” he said.

When the disbursement left no money in the country’s coffers, Najib “loaned” RM1 million of the government’s money to start the embattled 1MDB, he added.

In December 2008, the government greenlit the setting up of the TIA – a sovereign fund which managed the oil royalty payment to Terengganu.

Najib, in announcing the rebranding of TIA to 1MDB in January 2009, said that it was to enable the benefits of the fund to not be enjoyed by Terengganu folk alone, but all Malaysians.

Men or flag?

Meanwhile, Mahathir, in his speech at the ceramah, expressed his astonishment at the presence of more PAS flags than BN’s, in the state.

“I was amazed when I reached Terengganu, I saw more PAS flags than the scale (dacing) symbol of BN, there were too many that all I could see were the flags, not the road.

“But ladies and gentlemen, tonight (in Padang Astaka, Dungun), I see thousands of Dungun, and Terengganu folk. So, I would like to ask, which is bigger, flags or men?” asked the Bersatu chairperson to a round of applause.

The Harapan’s candidate for Langkawi said the support for a political party is not assessed by the number of flags displayed, but the size of the crowd the said party garners during its ceramah for the election.

He acknowledged that Harapan hardly puts up any flags, due to financial constraints.

“We don’t see (many) Harapan flags in Terengganu, or other states, because we don’t have much money, because those who want to donate money to us, they are afraid to do so because the Inland Revenue Board might come after them for taxes, afterwards.”

– M’kini