King Salman of Saudi Arabia’s four-day visit to Malaysia has ended.
The most significant thing about King Salman’s visit to Malaysia is not what was said or done by the Saudis, including the signing of the US$7 billion (RM31 billion) agreement by Saudi Aramco to take a 50 per cent stake in Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Pengerang but what was not said about the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal bank accounts.
Three days ago, a “kangkong” professor said that the Saudi King’s visit vindicated the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the RM2.6 billion donation in his personal bank accounts.
He said: “Previously, there was a leader who said that even a mad Arab would not give such a colossal sum. But the presence of King Salman is sufficient to prove Najib was telling the truth that the RM2.6 billion was a donation from the Saudi royal family.”
It is fortunate that this “kangkong” professor did not end up as a judge, as no sane or rational person could understand his “perverse illogic”.
The argument that King Salman would not have set foot in Malaysia if Najib had “slandered” the Saudi royal family does not hold water, for how can King Salman omit an OIC country like Malaysia in a month-long Asian tour, covering six other countries, viz Indonesia, Brunei, Japan, China, Maldives and Jordan – four of which are members of the Organisation of Islamic States (OIC)?
What was most conspicuous in Salman’s visit is the Saudi Arabian silence and refusal to confirm that the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s private banking accounts came from the Saudi royal family.
The Saudi silence is understandable, for Saudi Arabia’s own credibility would be at stake, unless they could disprove the “money trail” which the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit to seize over US$1 billion of 1MDB-linked assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland had elaborately traced in their kleptocracy cases – proving that the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts came from the shoal of 1MDB-linked companies and not from any Saudi Arabian “donation”.
In the circumstances, AMANAH MP for Shah Alam, Khalid Samad’s motion to summon the Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali to Parliament to explain his decision not to pursue charges on the RM2.6 billion donation received by Najib is most apt and timely, and deserves the support of all MPs who stand for integrity, accountability and transparency.
Khalid has rightly pointed out the conflicting information about the donation – while Apandi declared the funds came from the Saudi royal family, investigations and court cases overseas, including in Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, showed that the money came from 1MDB.
The Saudi silence during the recent visit of King Salman to Malaysia, refusing to declare that the donation came from Saudi royal family, is loud and resounding.
But the Saudi silence is most ominous and a grave blow to the integrity of the Prime Minister and good governance in Malaysia.
I agree with Khalid that if Najib had nothing to hide, then there would be no obstacle to Apandi appearing in Parliament.
In fact, Apandi should offer to appear in Parliament for questioning about the 1MDB scandal without the need for a parliamentary motion if the Attorney-General is committed to the principles of good governance and the rule of law.
(Media Conference Statement after visiting Pengkalan Rinting State Assembly constituency in Johor Bahru with the DAP State Assemblyman Cheo Yee How on Wednesday, March 1, 2017 at 11.30 am)