I arrived in Gelang Patah from Kuala Lumpur and my attention has been drawn to the statement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azlalina Othman Said, who said that I should assist the special task force set up to probe the foreign exchange losses incurred by Bank Negara more than two decades ago.
Azalina said I should be the first man to support the task force.
She said:
“This is because he was so vocal in the 1990s in the Dewan Rakyat by bringing up various motions to propose the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to probe the losses.
“Thus, this is the best opportunity for him to prove he had basis to bring up the motions in 1993 and 1994. He should assist the task force by reviewing thoroughly all the relevant facts. Or, was he just confusing the House at the time?”
Azalina is doing the Cabinet no service in coming out with such a puerile and laughable statement. The very fact that the Cabinet is forming a special task force into the Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago vindicates what I said in Parliament in the early nineties.
Otherwise, why is the Cabinet forming a special task force on the Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago? On a wild goose’s chase?
However, there is a new dimension after the Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago.
I would advise Azalina to study my statements that all the Barisan Nasional Ministers are guilty of colossal negligence and irresponsibility of the first degree when at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, they could set up a special task force (STF) to conduct a probe into Bank Negara forex losses more than two decades ago but dare not breathe a word on the monstrous 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.
Actually, the Cabinet Ministers have done worse.
They have shown that they lack Malaysian patriotism, that they could be indifferent and unmoved by Malaysia’s infamy and ignominy of being regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.
Azalina has nothing to be proud for being a poor specimen of Malaysian patriotism.
Which Malaysian who loves Malaysia and is patriotic can be indifferent to the country’s shame, infamy and ignominy of being regarded as a global kleptocracy – when even ordinary Malaysians fight shy of admitting that they are Malaysians when abroad for they will be confronted with a load of questions about Malaysia being a global kleptocracy!
I call on all Barisan Nasional Ministers to resign as Ministers if they are not prepared to do anything to give top priority to clear or purge Malaysia of the infamy and ignominy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy.
Are there no other leaders in the 13 parties in Barisan Nasional who are patriotic enough to want to make the clearing or purging of Malaysia’s international infamy and ignominy as a global kleptocracy the top national agenda of the country?
If so, then it is a very sad day for Malaysia, when even the PAS President Datuk Hadi Awang has no problem with Malaysia being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy so long as Muslims are the leaders in the country – ignoring the fact that even if UMNO is ousted from Putrajaya in the next general elections by Pakatan Harapan and Bersatu, it is a Malay and Muslim who will be Prime Minister and not a non-Malay or a non-Muslim.
Although the leaders of the Barisan Nasional parties and even PAS can accept Malaysia as a global kleptocracy, I do not believe that the ordinary members of UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional component parties, or even PAS, can accept Malaysia’s international infamy and ignominy of being a global kleptocracy.
If there is a national referendum as to whether the objective of clearing or purging Malaysia’s international infamy and ignominy as a global kleptocracy should be the top national priority, I have no doubt that the ordinary members of UMNO, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Sabah and Sarawak BN parties, as well as of PAS, will stand on a united front with the members of DAP, PKR, Amanah and Bersatu to want to clear or purge Malaysia of the ignominy and infamy of a global kleptocracy as they are all Malaysian patriots.
If the top leaders of UMNO and the Barisan Nasional parties, as well as PAS, are not prepared to be patriots and to be proud of Malaysia as a model of integrity, tolerance and moderation where different races, religions, languages and cultures could co-exist in peace and understanding, I believe the ordinary members of UMNO, Barisan Nasional parties, PAS can agree with the ordinary members of DAP, PKR, Amanah and Bersatu that as Malaysian patriots, we want a clean, incorruptible, moral and good government!
Last week, the Minister for Multimedia and Communications, Datuk Seri Salleh Keruak said the Bumiputera Finance Malaysia (BMF) scandal during Mahathir’s administration was worse in terms of national exposure than the 1MDB scandal, making the ludicrous claim that the government’s exposure through 1MDB involved only the paid-up capital of only RM1 million.
If Salleh is right, then why didn’t Cabinet also set up a special task force on the BMF scandal?
The Cabinet should initiate official inquiries into both the BMF scandal and the Bank Negara forex losses, but even more important and urgent, is official probe and accountability into the 1MDB scandal, which is the worst financial scandal in the nation’s history.
Let me reply diretly to Azalina’s statement today: I am prepared to serve on a public probe into government scandals on BMF and Bank Negara forex losses, but the terms of reference must give priority to the 1MDB scandal which has been haunting and hounding Malaysians in the past two years and appears set to do so in the years to come under the rubric of Malaysia as a “global kleptocracy”.
Is Azalina prepared to table at next meeting of Cabinet next Wednesday two proposals – firstly, inclusion of 1MDB scandal in the terms of reference of the public probe; and secondly, appointing me as a member of the public probe?
The ball is in the court of Azalina and Najib’s Cabinet.
(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Friday, 17th February 2017)