Former Minister and Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club (BNBBC) Chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad is the first to confirm the posting on the Sarawak Report website on Saturday which named him as one of those who had received funds from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s infamous RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13th General Election campaigning.
In the past two days, I had asked the two individuals whom Sarawak Report had revealed as having received RM1 million and RM2 million respectively to publicly confirm or deny, that they cannot keep silent as they are bound to be questioned on the matter when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 19, as both of them are Members of Parliament.
Now that Shahrir has admitted receiving RM1 million from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13th General Election campaigning, it is now the turn of the Deputy Minister for International Trade and Industry, Datuk Ahmad Maslan to confirm whether he has received RM2 million from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for the 13th General Election campaigning.
Shahrir’s confirmation of the Sarawak Report posting is an acknowledgement of the credibility and reliability of the reports in the Sarawak Report website although it has been accused of being recklessly irresponsible in making baseless allegations against UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders, but up to now, there has not been a single case of any Sarawak Report posting shown to false or untrue.
Before Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting and the expiry of my 96-hour ultimatum to them, all Ministers and Deputy Ministers should declare whether they have received funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts for 13th General Elections campaigning, and if so, how much they had each received.
I want in particular to name the following eight Ministers and two deputy ministers to declare the funds they had received from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal accounts, viz:
- Hishammuddin Hussein – Defence Minister.
- Azalina Othman – Minister in Prime Minister’s Department.
- Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah – Second Finance Minister.
- Liow Tiong Lai – Transport Minister.
- Anifah Aman – Foreign Minister.
- Ismail Sabry – Rural and Regional Development Minister.
- Ahmad Shabery Cheek – Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister
- Madzir Khalid – Education Minister
- Tajuddin Abdul Rahman – Deputy Agriculture Minister
- Razali Ibrahim – Deputy Minister, Prime Minister’s Department
On Saturday, Sarawak Report said that over US$650 million (RM2 billion) was transferred from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s AmPrivate Bank account in Kuala Lumpur to an account in Singapore after the 13th general election.
The whistle-blower site also alleged that the money was deposited into an account in the name of Tanore Finance Corporation (BVI) at Falcon Bank in Singapore on the day the Prime Minister’s AmPrivate Bank account was closed, August 30, 2013.
Sarawak Report said this was the same company account which had originally transferred US$681 million into Najib’s AmPrivate Bank account, earlier in March of the same year.
Sarawak Report also said that Najib had distributed funds from his private accounts to a few Umno leaders, who are now proving to be some of the prime minister’s strongest defenders in the present crisis.
Let Najib say a simple “Yes” or “No” to the latest Sarawak Report revelations.
The recent Cabinet reshuffle three weeks ago on July 28 was not to have a more dedicated and professional Cabinet to better serve the people and country but to create a 1MDB Cabinet to better protect Najib from having to be accountable and transparent on the twin scandals of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal accounts.
In fact, we are now having an Education Minister who is making history as the least known occupant of this most important ministry for the future of the country!
Never before in the nation’s history is there a larger percentage of the people who do not know who is the current Education Minister!
In fact, Najib has now the most number of Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, as there are now 11 Ministers with the latest addition of Azalina Othman.
The number of Ministers in Najib’s Prime Minister’s Department is even bigger than the first Cabinet of the country when we achieved Merdeka in 1957, when we had a Cabinet of only 10 Ministers!
The annual budget for the Prime Minister’s Department alone is a walloping RM19 billion, which is about 20 times more than the full Federal Government budget when we achieved Merdeka 58 years ago – which was around RM800 million.
But the Malaysian Cabinet today is not able to be as effective and productive than the Cabinet of 1957 – despite having a 11-Minister Prime Minister’s Department which is bigger than Tunku Abdul Rahman’s first Merdeka Cabinet!
Is Malaysia going forward or backward?
(Speech at the DAP forum “Ke Mana Halatuju Malaysia” at Tropical Inn, Johor Baru on Monday, 17th August 2015 at 9 pm)
