It is not just AMANAH Youth Deputy Chief Faiz Faisal who is shocked by the Court of Appeal decision that it has taken judicial notice that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had been cleared by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), police, MACC and Bank Negara with regard to allegations on the 1MDB scandal.

All right-thinking and fair-minded Malaysians are also shocked, particularly by the claim that the PAC, the Police, the MACC and Bank Negara have cleared Najib of the allegations on the 1MDB scandal.

As a Member of Parliament, I am utterly shocked by such a “judicial notice”. How can the courts give “judicial notice” to things that don’t exist?

I challenge that PAC Chairman, Datuk Sri Hassan Arifin to declare that the PAC had cleared Najib of all allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal.

Similarly, how could the Police, the MACC and Bank Negara have cleared Najib of all the allegations about the 1MDB scandal, which had earned for Malaysia the infamy of the appellation of a “global kleptocracy” and the public castigation of the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions of the world’s “worst kleptocracy”, when all they had done was to play an elaborate game of “hide and seek” to avoid having to address the 1MDB allegations?

I challenge the Prime Minister to issue a White Paper to enumerate the various allegations relating to the 1MDB scandal which the PAC, the police, MACC and Bank Negara have individually and collectively cleared Najib.

In the last few days, we see an international current against corruption and kleptocracy.

Is Malaysia is going against this tide of international opinion for good governance and integrity in public life?

Last week, the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was convicted of corruption and sentenced to five year’s in jail.

Three days ago, the Indonesian Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati was awarded the Best Minister Award in the World Government Summit in Dubai.

In a video message posted online on Sunday, the former World Bank managing director said the award recognised President Joko Widodo’s leadership in Indonesia’s financial and economic reforms since he took office in October 2014.

She dedicated the award to all Indonesians and the 78,164 officers at the Ministry of Finance for their hardwork and commitment to financial integrity.

Sri Mulyani is a well-known economic reformer and warrior against corruption.

She was formerly Indonesian Finance Minister in 2005 under Suharto, but resigned in 2010 because of mounting opposition to her campaign against corruption and tax fraud.

Her resignation caused financial turmoil in Indonesia with the sharpest drop in the Indonesian stock exchange in 17 months while the Indonesia rupiah fell heavily nearly 1% against the US dollar.

Today there is the report that South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, who faces numerous allegation of corruption, has resigned as President of South Africa as a result of the revolt and pressure from his own party, the African National Congress.

With this international tide for integrity, Malaysia should not go against the global opinion against corruption and kleptocracy.

I agree with Faiz that the Malaysian courts should have issued a judicial notice instead that “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) described in the US Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture action involving 1MDB is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 15th February 2018)