Never before in the history of UMNO Assemblies are there so many elephants in the room which every UMNO leader is strenuously trying to ignore in the UMNO Assemblies this week.

The biggest elephant is undoubtedly the international 1MDB money-laundering scandal, which brought infamy and ignominy to Malaysia as a global kleptocracy, but there are also other elephants in the shoal of mini-1MDB scandals like those affecting MARA, Felda and Tabung Haji.

The 1MDB elephant has continued to grow in size since UMNO/BN was evicted from Putrajaya in the 14th General Election on 9th May 2018, and the UMNO Assemblies this week will be doing UMNO and the nation the greatest disservice if the charade to ignore the 1MDB elephant is continued.

This charade cannot go on, especially after the shocking revelation by one of the Big Four auditors in Malaysia, KPMG, that the accounts of 1MDB cannot be relied on from the time of its inception in 2009 – as it should be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back and make the 1MDB scandal the single biggest issue in the UMNO Assemblies this week.

In fact, the preparedness to face up to the terrible consequences of the 1MDB scandal, which had already made Malaysia a global kleptocracy in the past few years, should be the acid test as to whether a candidate qualifies to be a contender for the various UMNO posts in the next three years.

KPMG, which signed off on three unqualified audit reports for 1MDB for the financiaol years ending March 2010 to 2012, informed the 1MDB board of directors on June 8 that the financial statements audited did not reflect a true and fair view of the company.

KPMG reach­ed the above decision after going through the recently declassified Auditor-General’s report on 1MDB and other relevant documents that were withheld from them by the previous management of the company.

If the documents had been disclosed to the auditors, KPMG believed the information ‘would have materially impacted the financial statements and the relevant audit reports’.

KPMG also called for all necessary steps to be taken by 1MDB to prevent further or future reliance on the audit reports it prepared for the financial years ending March 2010 to 2012.

In 2016, Deloitte also said its audit reports on 1MDB’s financial statements issued on March 28, 2014, and Nov 5, 2014, for the financial years ending 2013 and 2014 should no longer be relied upon.

A company’s set of financial statements is no longer considered audited when auditors no longer stand by their audit reports.

UMNO contender for UMNO Deputy President, Tan Sri Annuar Musa said that the 1MDB probe had nothing to do with Umno and there was no reason for the party to be alarmed.

Would Annuar similarly declare that his MARA corruption case, which is still being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, has nothing to do with UMNO and there was no reason for UMNO to be alarmed?

According to Annuar, Umno had no knowledge of what transpired in 1MDB and was never briefed on any of the dealings handled by the state-owned company.

Either Annuar has very short memory, selective memory or he is not a person who can be trusted with truth and facts.

Didn’t the IMDB CEO, Arul Kanda Kandasamy, probably the highest-paid head of a government company in Malaysian history, go on an UMNO/BN-sponsored “Tanya Tanya” roadshow covering some 30 locations during the 14th General Elections to mislead Malaysians about the 1MDB scandal?

This was why I said during the 14GE that nobody was interested in Arul’s fairy tales about the 1MDB scandal, as the then Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should step forward to account fully for the 1MDB “kleptocracy at its worst” which had landed Malaysia with the ignominy, infamy and iniquity as a global kleptocracy!

Now, after the UMNO/BN electoral disaster, even Najib is claiming ignorance about the criminality, corruption and the moral turpitude in the 1MDB scandal.

Why didn’t Arul tell Najib the “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about the 1MDB scandal and instead went on a national roadshow to mislead the Malaysian electorate?

It is sad to see the former Prime Minister trying his utmost to extricate himself from the Reuters interview and equivocate as to whether he had blamed the 1MDB board and management for the financial scandal or not.

However, what is clear is everybody close-up to the 1MDB scandal is busy disclaiming responsibility for the “kleptocracy at its worst” after the change of government in the 14GE!

A contender to be UMNO President Khairy Jamaluddin issued a mea culpa early this month in an interview with the South China Morning Post that the 1MDB scandal was the cause of UMNO/BN’s “catastrophic” downfall in the 14th General Election.

Three days ago, he returned to this theme and stressed that UMNO lost in the 14th general elections as the party was plagued with scandals among the top leadership.

After the declarations that the accounts of 1MDB were not “true and fair” since its formation in 2009, all eyes are now on the UMNO General Assemblies this week as to whether UMNO leaders and delegates will continue the charade of eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouth that speak not!

(Media Statement in Gelang Patah on Wednesday, 27th June 2018)