With the Umno party polls fast coming up on June 30, veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang has urged the party to expel its former president Najib Abdul Razak to rid itself of the legacies of the global 1MDB scandal and the divisive politics he once used.
The Iskandar Puteri MP claimed that as prime minister and BN president, Najib has used polarising tactics by utilising race and religion to instil fear and hate among Malaysians, "to tear aside fragile plural society."
"Will the Umno general assembly the end of this month repudiate the two Najib legacies of (i) (Malaysia as) a global kleptocracy as a result of the monstrous 1MDB international money-laundering scandal and other corruption scandals being unearthed; and (ii) unleashing the most divisive, vicious and toxic politics of race, religion, hate, fear and lies heedless of the unity and integrity of plural Malaysia?
“Who will be the first Umno leader who dares to speak up what is in the minds of all Malaysians, in fact, all patriotic Umno members, that Najib must be expelled from Umno/BN... if Umno/BN is to be exorcised of the two toxic Najib legacies?” Lim said in a statement today.
He also responded to Najib’s Raya posting yesterday in which the former premier urged political rivals to lay down their arms now that the general election was over, by asking whether Najib thought the 14th general election (GE14) was just a game to be reset.
“Does Najib think the GE14 was a picnic, with everything back to normal after the hustle and bustle of the hustings?” Lim asked.
He further questioned whether Najib expected Malaysians to forget the “incendiary, provocative” politics spouted by Umno leaders, especially in the last Umno general assembly last December.
He said the former Umno president himself had resorted to painting DAP as being "anti-Malay and anti-Islam" because it stood for a secular Malaysia.
Najib resigned as Umno and BN president following BN's devastating loss at last month's general election, which saw BN lose federal power for the first time in over 60 years.
The loss has caused many in Umno to question the party leadership and direction and whoever is elected as the new leader of Umno is expected to chart a new course for the party.
Umno, meanwhile, has stated that he would be defending his position as Pekan division chief in the upcoming polls.
One of the first steps taken by the new government was to initiated investigations into Najib over the alleged misappropriation of funds from 1MDB, amounting to billions of ringgit.
Residences and properties linked to the ousted prime minister have also been searched by authorities and items including travel suitcases filled with cash, valued so far at RM114 million, and hundreds of luxury items including handbags were seized.
Authorities in Singapore, Switzerland and United States are also probing the state fund, with the State's Department of Justice (DOJ) naming a 'Malaysian Official 1” in its civil forfeiture suit filing, which was later identified as Najib.
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the matter. -Mkini
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