Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak may want to ignore PR and former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but Najib should respond to his own Deputy Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s frustrated queries on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal. Muhyiddin had asked,
“The rakyat wants to know, not just Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The rakyat wants to know why no one has been charged, why the 1MDB board has not been sacked, and about the position of the CEO and the prime minister as adviser”.
The Prime Minister must be open, transparent and accountable on this scandal because it involved huge public funds and loans amounting to RM 42 billion. Clearly the remedial measures adopted by Najib, in seeking an audit by the Auditor-General Reports or even by a professional accounting firm, is unsatisfactory because it is insufficient, inadequate and even impotent to rescue 1MDB to avoid the government incurring any losses by paying up on 1MDB’s behalf.
Now the Deputy Prime Minister himself has said that he is at a loss and does not even know what to say, even identifying 1MDB for UMNO’s loss in the recent Permatang Pauh by-election. Malaysians are not impressed by 1MDB’s magic show of vanishing funds, which explains the outrage and even anger felt by Muslims that Lembaga Tabung Haji participated in something wrong or even a bailout of 1MDB, by buying land at Tun Razak Exchange in Kuala Lumpur from 1MDB.
To prove there is no cover-up, Najib should hold a joint press conference with Muhyiddin to answer the serious queries raised by his own deputy as to why no one has been charged, why the 1MDB Board was not sacked and even questioned the position of the Prime Minister as advisor of 1MDB. Any failure to do so would not only damage any credibility and integrity left in Najib, but may even precipitate an internal crisis with talk of an open challenge by Muhyiddin against Najib.
Kulim Bandar MP and UMNO Kulim division chief Datuk Abdul Aziz Sheikh Fadzir even told The Malaysian Insider that Najib’s credibility is being questioned because of the 1MDB scandal and the people consider it as a failing by the president and prime minister. Datuk Abdul Aziz even went on to ask whether Najib is now a winnable candidate for UMNO. Yesterday night in Tawau, in front of a 40,000 crowd organised by UMNO Sabah, Najib fought back against the dissident factions in UMNO by defiantly saying that he would not resign.
At the very least, Najib should assume full responsibility for his mishandling of the 1MDB scandal by letting go of this post as Finance Minister to concentrate on his duties as Prime Minister. Failure to resign as Finance Minister will only pile up pressure on his to resign as Prime Minister.