KUALA LUMPUR, 24 DEC: If Barisan Nasional is serious about vetting its election candidates for corrupt practices, bankruptcy and moral misconduct, then they must begin with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

DAP Assistant National Publicity Chief, Teo Nie Ching said that although the PM is paid high salary, people are wondering if his income was enough to afford excessive extravagances.

Such extravagances, she said, included spending RM80,000 on his birthday party and RM410,000 for his daughter’s engagement party, as well as the luxury items flaunted by his wife Rosmah Mansor, who is allegedly known to possess a large number of Birkin handbags.

She said Najib started his political career at the young age of 23 by inheriting the Parliamentary seat held by his father Tun Abdul Razak, the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, without having to work hard for it.

“In his smooth-sailing political career, he held his first ministerial position at the age of 25 and other various portfolios until he was appointed Prime Minister of Malaysia in 2009. I’m sure all Malaysians would be curious to know how he managed to accumulate so much wealth while being a full-time politician since his mid-20s,” she added.

Teo said the second BN politician that needs to be vetted immediately is Taib Mahmud who is allegedly seen as the richest politician in Malaysia despite the fact that majority of Sarawakians are poor and many more live in harsh poverty.

She claimed that a report by the Swiss-based NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) entitled ‘The Taib Timber Mafia: Facts and Figures on Politically Exposed Persons from Sarawak, Malaysia’ alleged that the estimated assets of Taib Mahmud’s family at US$21 billion (RM64 billion).

She further explained that the report claimed that the wealth of Taib himself put at a whopping US$15 billion (RM46 billion) making him Malaysia’s richest man outstripping tycoon Robert Kuok who has US$12.5 billion.

It is the first report that describes in detail the business activities and personal wealth of 20 members of the Taib family in Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United States and other countries, she added.

“Despite all the details in the report, our Prime Minister has dismissed allegations that Taib Mahmud had amassed billions of ringgit during his tenure as Sarawak Chief Minister for 31 years in September this year by making a most irresponsible comment: ‘There are all kinds of allegations, jangan kita layan (let’s not entertain it’),” she said.

Teo who is also Serdang MP proposed that all Ministers and their deputies declare their assets publicly, just like what Pakatan Rakyat has done in Penang and Selangor.

She said the ridiculous allegations that such public declarations of assets may jeopardise the safety of their families does not hold water as until today, no PR Excos has faced such a threat.

“We call on Prime Minister and BN to show the rakyat that you can change, or else, be prepared to be changed by the rakyat in GE13,” she added. – The Rocket