Some 48 hours after his first Penang undersea tunnel escape, Najib Abdul Razak did it again when asked to respond to the allegation that his administration tried to sell a government-owned building in Hong Kong.
Once again, the former premier sought to bait Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
"We will only comment when Lim replies to… apa nama RPK's content is true or not.
"He (Lim) has to comment first," stressed Najib when met at the sidelines of the Dewan Rakyat sitting this afternoon.
Najib was referring to claims made by UK-based blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, who released purported MACC witnesses statements in Jan 2018, which implicated Lim in the receipt of kickbacks for the undersea tunnel project.
Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd senior executive director Zarul Ahmad Mohamad Zulkifli, who purportedly made the statements, has since refuted Raja Petra's claims.
Zarul also described the claims as "nefarious" and "pure fiction", given that he was never charged for graft after investigations into the matter concluded early last year when Najib was still in power.
Asked to clarify if he was setting conditions before clarifying his administration's role in the sale of the building in Hong Kong, Najib appeared irate.
Reporter: Do you have conditions (before answering)?
Najib: No. He has to comment first. How can we be the only ones to comment. I know what we did. I can comment, but he has to comment (on Raja Petra's allegations) first.
Reporter: Why did you try to sell Malaysia Building?
Najib: He (must) comment first. I’ll answer la. And I'll also get Datuk Anifah (Aman, former foreign minister) to answer.
On Tuesday, Lim told the Dewan Rakyat that the Najib administration tried to sell the 28-storey Malaysia Building, which houses government agencies and consulate.
The minister accused Najib of attempting to dispose of the building through direct negotiation, instead of selling it on the open market, which the Pakatan Harapan administration is seeking to do now.
At the time, Najib’s retort to this was: "Was the Penang undersea tunnel done through open tender? Explain the tunnel first."
For the record, the contractor for the tunnel project was selected through an open bidding process. The process began in 2011.
On March 19, Najib had noted on his social media accounts that there were news reports that Malaysia Building would be sold "soon" without passing any additional comment.
Prior to this, Najib had written several times on social media that GLCs such as Boustead Holdings Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Khazanah Nasional Bhd were disposing of "national assets."
Having been conditioned, many of Najib's Facebook followers had lashed out at the federal government for attempting to sell Malaysia Building.
Meanwhile, Najib walked away when he was asked about his dealings with prominent US public relations figure Mark Carallo.
"You ask Guan Eng first, then I reply," said Najib.
In a filing to the US Department of Justice last March, Corallo disclosed that Najib was his client.
Corallo, widely known in the US as a Republican Party spin doctor, used to represent private army Blackwater Worldwide and US president Donald Trump. - Mkini
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