Speech by Lim Kit Siang at the DAP Sibu Thanksgiving Dinner for Pakatan Rakyat Sibu by-election campaigners at Sungai Merah, Sibu on Sunday, 23^rd May 2010: 

Why MACC “may” and not “shall” call Najib in for investigation over his infamous RM5 million “let’s make a deal” speech in the Sibu by-election?

At the Cheras DAP Solidarity Dinner in Kuala Lumpur on Friday night, I had posed the question Why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) dare not announce it will probe Datuk Seri Najib Razak if corruption is suspected in the Prime Minister’s infamous RM5million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election polling?

I posed this question as the New Straits Times had on Thursday carried the headline: “MACC; Sime probe if graft suspected” following nation-wide furore over the latest financial scandal in the country the RM964 million Sime Darby losses from cost overruns from four projects in its Energy and Utilities Unit, in particular the Bakun Dam project.

I asked the MACC, why the double-standards in its reaction to these two cases, especially when there is ample evidence for investigation whether the Prime Minister had been guilty of corrupt practices in the recent Sibu by-election campaign particularly in his infamous RM5 million “deal” at Rejang Park, Sibu on the eve of Sibu by-election.

The YouTube video of Najib’s Rejang Park’s “let’s make a deal” speech, promising to allocate RM5 million for flood-mitigation in Rejang Park provided the BN candidate was elected, had been the hottest site for the past week.

Outrage and disbelief are the common reactions of Malaysians and even foreigners who saw the YouTube video, with Najib declaring in his own words: “If Robert Lau becomes the MP on Sunday, on Monday I will ask [for] the cheque to be prepared. Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win.”

The MACC has bowed down to unrelenting public pressure to declare earlier today that it has opened a file into Najib’s infamous RM5 million “let’s make a deal” speech in Sibu on May 15, 2009.

MACC investigation director Mustafar Ali admitted that complaints had been lodged against Najib’s RM5 million “deal” speech, adding that the MACC may consider calling Najib in for investigation.

The question all Malaysians want to ask is why the MACC “may” and not “shall” call Najib in for investigation over his RM5 million “let’s make a deal” offer in the Sibu by-election?

Although Mustafar claims that the MACC is “colour blind” and “will take action whenever we receive information”, nobody is impressed unless and until MACC dare categorically declare that they will interrogate Najib personally in the RM5 million ‘let’s make a deal” case.

The MACC had shown no qualms when Pakatan Rakyat leaders are concerned, as in the past 16 months, the MACC had provided more than ample evidence that it acted more like the Umno/BN catspaw to further the Umno/BN political agenda than remaining true to its statutory remit to declare an all-out war against corruption.

The mysterious Teoh Beng Hock death at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam in July last year is an unforgettable example to Malaysians as MACC did not treat Teoh with kid-gloves like it is now doing with the Prime Minister, although Teoh was only a witness in an investigation involving some RM2,000 ringgit!

MACC must prove that it is party-blind and position-blind, and treat Najib no different as any other suspect for corruption if it is to make any headway to start recovering public confidence in its efficiency, independence, professionalism and integrity from an even lower level of public confidence that had ever befallen its predecessor, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

*Lim Kit Siang, DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Ipoh Timor