(Scroll down for BM version of this statement / Terjemahan BM di bawah)

The RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin stole the thunder from the 11th Malaysia Plan and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak respectively when a video recording of Muhyiddin calling for heads to roll in 1MDB scandal circulated among MPs when Najib was presenting the 11th Malaysia Plan in Parliament this morning.

After Najib’s presentation of the 11th Malaysia Plan in Parliament, Muhyiddin stood by his speech at an UMNO gathering on Saturday calling for the 1MDB Board to be sacked for the RM42 billion debt scandal or it will bring down the Barisan Nasional government.

In the recording, Muhyiddin said this was his advice to the Prime Minister, adding he was not against Najib’s leadership.

Muhyiddin said in the recording:

“The entire 1MDB board should be sacked and the police should be called in to investigate their involvement in the scandal.

“I told the PM, sack the 1MDB board. If I owned the company, and the CEO racked up so much of debt, that I had to pay interest between RM100 and RM200 million every month, what else to do? Just sack.”

He said sacking the 1MDB Board would send a clear signal that Putrajaya viewed the issue seriously.

In his press conference in Parliament after Najib’s presentation of the 11th Malaysia Plan, Muhyiddin said he had made the same suggestion before in public.

He insisted that the opinion was a personal one and he has yet to receive any response from the Prime Minister on the matter.

This is a most extraordinary situation, where the Deputy Prime Minister insists that he wants the 1MDB Board to be sacked and investigated by the police, as there is no time to wait either for the Auditor-General or the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee in the face of the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history, but it is his only personal view.

Did Muhyiddin make clear his position on the 1MDB Board in Cabinet that heads must roll, and when will he make a decision to resign from the Cabinet and as Deputy Prime Minister unless the 1MDB Board is sacked and the police called in to investigate the scandal?

Furthermore, would Muhyiddin propose the sacking of Najib as Prime Minister if Najib is responsible for all the major decisions taken by the 1MDB board in the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal?

What is the position of the majority of the Cabinet Ministers – are they in agreement with Muhyiddin and take the personal position that the 1MDB Board should be sacked but avoid taking an official position in Cabinet?

The whole situation is getting to be very farcical, if not for the brutal reality that it involves RM42 billion of the Malaysian taxpayers’ money.

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(Teks Bahasa Malaysia)

Adakah Muhyiddin akan mencadangkan supaya Najib dipecat sebagai Perdana Menteri, sekiranya Najib lah yang bertanggungjawab penuh di sebalik kesemua keputusan besar lembaga pengarah 1MDB dalam skandal RM42 bilion ini?

Skandal RM42 bilion 1MDB dan Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin telah mencuri tumpuan daripada pembentangan Rancangan Malaysia ke-11 oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak apabila sebuah rakaman video ucapan Muhyiddin menyeru supaya lembaga pengarah 1MDB dipecat beredar di kalangan Ahli Parlimen sewaktu pembentangan RMK-11 oleh Najib di Palrimen pagi ini.

Selepas ucapan pembentangan RMK-11 Najib di Parlimen, Muhyiddin mempertahankan ucapannya dalam satu perjumpaan bersama pemimpin Umno Sabtu lalu, menggesa supaya lembaga pengarah 1MDB dipecat ekoran skandal RM42 bilion, jika tidak kerajaan Barisan Nasional akan rebah.

Rakaman tersebut menunjukkan Muhyiddin berkata seperti berikut, sebagai menasihati Perdana Menteri, sambil menambah bahawa beliau tidak menentang kepimpinan Najib.

Kata Muhyiddin dalam rakaman itu:

“Buanglah. CEO ni buang. Bukan buang sahaja, panggil polis siasat,”

“Saya beritahu perdana menteri, pecat semua ahli lembaga pengarah 1MDB. Dan kalau syarikat itu saya punya dan dilaporkan bahawa ada CEO pinjam sampai sepuluh bilion, lepas tu setiap bulan saya kena bayar interest RM100 dan RM200 juta, apa nak buat? Buanglah.”

Beliau berkata bahawa memecat lembaga pengarah 1MDB dapat memberi isyarat jelas bahawa Putrajaya memandang serius isu terbabit.

Dalam sidang medianya di Parlimen selepas pembentangan RMK-11 oleh Najib, Muhyiddin berkata bahawa beliau telah mengemukakan cadangan yang sama sebelum ini secara terbuka.

Beliau menegaskan bahawa pendapat tersebut adalah pendapat peribadi dan belum mendapat sebarang respon daripada Perdana Menteri mengenai hal tersebut.

Ini satu keadaan yang luarbiasa, di mana seorang Timbalan Perdana Menteri bertegas mahukan Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB dipecat dan disiasat polis, memandangkan tidak ada masa untuk menunggu Ketua Audit Negara ataupun Jawatankuasa Kira-kira Wang Awam apabila didepani skandal kewangan terbesar dalam sejarah negara; tetapi ia sekadar pandangan peribadi.

Adakah Muhyiddin telah menyatakan pendiriannya mengenai memecat Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB dengan jelas dalam Kabinet, dan bila pula beliau akan memutuskan untuk meletakkan jawatan sebagai Timbalan Perdana Menteri kecuali jika Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB dipecat dan pihak polis menyiasat skandal tersebut?

Selanjutnya, adakah Muhyiddin akan mencadangkan supaya Najib dipecat sebagai Perdana Menteri, sekiranya Najib lah yang bertanggungjawab penuh di sebalik kesemua keputusan besar lembaga pengarah 1MDB dalam skandal RM42 bilion ini?

Apakah pendirian majoriti anggota Menteri Kabinet – adakah mereka bersetuju dengan Muhyiddin dan menyatakan pendirian peribadi bahawa Lembaga Pengarah 1MDB mesti dipecat tetapi mengelak daripada menyatakan pendirian rasmi dalam Kabinet?

Keseluruhan situasi ini menjadi semakin lucu, namun hakikatnya ialah ia melibatkan sejumlah RM42 bilion wang pembayar cukai Malaysia.

(Kenyataan media di Parlimen pada hari Khamis 21 Mei 2015)