Make the report public, Pua demanded
KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 23: DAP lawmaker Tony Pua has called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to make public the Auditor-General’s preliminary report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to end the fiasco that is the debt-ridden, state-owned fund.
At a press conference today, Pua said, “The entire farcical 1MDB circus has reached heights of international scorn and derision for Malaysia… (Najib) has a very simple way to end the fiasco, by allowing the Auditor-General (AG) to make public the interim report.”
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said the nation’s reputation has been torn to shreds with the sheer volume of information and misinformation, which has made a “complete mockery of our governance system, transparency and accountability.
“The prime minister has a very simple was to end the entire fiasco, by ending the exceedingly unhealthy speculation on whose allegations are the truth, and whose are fabricated. All he has to do is allow the AG to make public the interim report with the relevant attachments which was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC),” he said.
Pua, who is a member of the PAC said the answers to the scandal, and to the allegations put forth by whistleblower site Sarawak Report, are contained in the report.
“The answers are in here, please make it public. It is fairly comprehensive, although it is not complete, because it is an interim report, but it will go a long way towards confirming –or destroying– Sarawak Report’s credibility,” he added.
The controversy surrounding 1MDB took an explosive turn on July 3, when The Wall Street Journal claimed some US$700 million of funds were transferred from 1MDB and 1MDB-linked subsidiaries into personal accounts belonging to Najib himself.
Meanwhile, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, who was also present at the press conference, accused Najib of turning Malaysia into a ‘banana republic’.
Najib turning M’sia into a banana republic, said Lim
“It is only in a “banana republic” where the principles of accountability, transparency and good governance are totally alien in practice, that there is a Prime Minister who could keep dumb for close to three weeks about allegations in an internationally reputable newspaper that Malaysian government investigators have found US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) deposited into the Prime Minister’s personal bank accounts,” he said.
A “banana republic” is a political science term used to describe a “politically unstable nation with a large, impoverished working class, and a ruling plutocracy of business, political, and military elites.” Modern interpretations of the term have changed to include countries which carry out economic exploitation via a business elite class.
Lim also slammed the government for banning Pua from travelling overseas, calling it an “unhealthy” trend and calling for the government to return to sobriety by answering the question of whether US$700 million did indeed end up in Najib’s accounts.
Pua was yesterday prevented from boarding a 3.15pm flight to Yogyakarta, where he was to visit several arts galleries for the Penang Arts District project. Immigration officers stopped him at KLIA2, citing ‘orders from above.’
Lawyer Gobind Singh said at the same joint press conference that Pua will be initiating legal action if the relevant authorities do not answer a letter to explain his travel ban.
“We will wait for a week for an explanation, after which if there is no answer, we will take it to the courts. We are seeking orders to first, demand an explanation why he is banned, and second, to quash the decision to ban Pua from travelling overseas,” he said, adding that he will be writing the letter today, if not Monday.
We give the govt a week to reply
Gobind, who is also Puchong MP, said the ban sets a dangerous precedent for parliamentarians and their ability to perform their duties.
Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng meanwhile said he will be lodging police reports against the Immigration Department and the Home Ministry for banning Pua from travelling, and also against Lester Melanyi, a former Sarawak Report journalist who has accused Pua of meeting with former Petrosaudi employee Xavier Justo.
– The Rocket
