Shocked! This was former minister Nazri Abdul Aziz's response to the revelations related to former premier Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor.
"All kinds of exposes are being made which I did not know when I was in the government.
"I did not know about Rosmah's jewellery, I did not know about SRC International... I didn't know when I was a minister there was money and Jho Low, it was not disclosed," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today.
As such, Nazri said he supported the investigations into the 1MDB scandal by the current government.
In June, police revealed that a series of raids on properties-linked to Najib yielded a haul of RM686.37 million, including RM116.7 million cash in 26 currencies.
Police added that this was the base value and the 567 luxury handbags, 423 watches, 234 sunglasses and more than 10,000 pieces of jewellery could fetch a market value of between RM910 million and RM1.1 billion.
Both Najib and Umno have claimed that the cash belongs to Umno while the former premier said a significant portion of the items seized were gifts.
Najib was also slapped with multiple charges over the alleged misappropriation of state-owned SRC International Sdn Bhd's funds, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
In the past, Nazri said as a party member, he always took the words of the Umno president at face value.
"I was shocked. I was shocked because as a party member, even during the era when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was the Umno president, we do not investigate whatever they say.
"When he (Mahathir) made (sodomy) accusations against Anwar Ibrahim (in the past), we stuck with it. It was the same with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib.
"It is only now that we know (about the revelations), which is why I have remained silent because I want to see what more will come out,' he added.
Meanwhile, the once vocal former minister confessed that he was finding it difficult to be in the opposition.
"For 28 years, I have been a politician in the government but after 28 years, it is tough for me to oppose unless the government has done something wrong.
"It is not in me to oppose the prime minister (for the sake of opposing)... the people have decided," he added.
Nazri said the new government should be given the opportunity to govern and a judgment on their performance can be made two years before the next general election.
The Padang Rengas MP also vowed to oppose in a constructive manner.
Nazri, who had been a fierce critic of Mahathir while he was in government, said he had no issues with the new prime minister.
"I have never left Umno, it is he who quit Umno. But now he is the prime minister, so we have to support him. I don't have a record of fighting the prime minister,” he added. - Mkini
Hunt with the hound and run with the hares policy. Right
ReplyDelete