Muhyiddin may have broken secrecy laws, says Umno division

 

Several Parit Sulong Umno youth members show the police report they had lodged against Muhyiddin Yassin.

PETALING JAYA: An Umno division has lodged a police report against Muhyiddin Yassin, saying he may have broken the law when he claimed the country is in financial trouble.

The youth wing of the Parit Sulong Umno division said information about the nation’s financial status was protected under the Official Secrets Act 1972 and was therefore confidential.

“The Bersatu president is not a Cabinet member nor the prime minister any more. He is  not entitled to be in possession of any information on the country that is classified as confidential.

“What was said by Muhyiddin appears to contravene the laws on official national documents, which are subject to the Official Secrets Act 1972,” it said in a statement last night.

The division urged an investigation be initiated under the OSA to investigate the validity of the former prime minister’s claim or if an offence under the secrecy law had been committed.

It was reported yesterday that Muhyiddin had claimed the country was facing far more serious financial problems than what the Umno-led federal government had announced.

Muhyiddin had also claimed that a “business as usual” Barisan Nasional (BN) would not be able to secure the country’s future at a time when even countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia were leapfrogging over Malaysia in economic development.

Looking ahead to the Johor state elections on March 12, Muhyiddin said Johoreans must think about the country’s finances and the prospects of BN getting its hands on the federal purse again.

“On Feb 17, I asked for a report from finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz. One day, I will expose the state of our country’s finances. I was once there (as the prime minister).

“How much longer can we keep this up? Is our annual revenue enough to pay salaries and for development purposes? Is there enough to pay pensions, which are huge?

“I know the country’s finances are not as rosy as described. That is the biggest challenge at the national level,” he said. - FMT