Yesterday I asked whether the letter which Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s secret spy chief Hasanah Abdul Hamid wrote as director-general of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation (MEIO) to the CIA seeking support against Pakatan Harapan on 4th May if the 14th General Election result turned out to be close was related to the reason why the Najib administration had not protested or taken any action against the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions’ public condemnation of the 1MDB corruption scandal at an international forum as “kleptocracy at its worst”.

Jeff Session’s condemnation was a very serious matter, as it was as good as an international indictment of the US government that Najib, the then Prime Minister named as “MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1 (MO1)” in the US Department of Justice (DoJ) litigation on 1MDB, was “kleptocrat at the worst” on the world stage.

I had continued to ponder on the question why in the past three years, the Najib government had not made a hue-and-cry at international forums at being unfairly regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy, launching even an all-party international initiative to the United Nations and countries all over the world to defend and clear Malaysia’s reputation from the infamy, ignominy and iniquity of a global kleptocracy?

The Najib government not only failed to do all this, it went out of its way to bar national institutions especially Parliament and the media from probing and debating the issue, and on the eve of the 14th General Election, even rushed through an Anti-Fake News Act in Parliament not to combat fake news but designed to enable the Najib government to penalise anyone from pursuing the 1MDB scandal as guilty of violating the Anti-Fake News Act.

I confess that I was floored and in a daze when the thought struck me that probably all this was because Najib did not mind being described as a kleptocrat provided he could enjoy life-long immunity and impunity by banning any ventilation of the 1MDB scandal within the shores in Malaysia – for he would be in the exalted company of world kleptocrats like former Indonesian President Suharto, former Philippines President Marcos, former Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, former Nigerian head of state Sani Abacha, former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, former Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier and former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori.

Najib was confident that he could continue to enjoy lifelong immunity and impunity for all the corruption, abuses of power and embezzlement in the 1MDB scandal as he never expected to be evicted from power and to lose the 14th General Election.

It is imperative for Najib to take the floor in tomorrow’s debate in Parliament on the royal address, and explain why the Najib administration had never protested or sought to clear Malaysia’s epithet as a global kleptocracy, or whether my damning thoughts were right after all.

Is this the reason why Najib has allowed other UMNO leaders and operatives to give different and even conflicting versions about the infamous RM2.6 billion deposits in his personal bank accounts?

These different and conflicting versions include:

Former Director General of JASA, Mohd Fuad Zarkashi, who told Malaysian students in Canberra in May 2016 that the money was from the Saudi King to combat the Islamic State, and secondly, to help in other places such as in Palestine and others.

On August 11, 2015, the then Tourism Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamad Nazri Abdul Aziz said the donation was from a “brotherly nation” which wanted to see certain parties win the 13th general election because they were friendly to them.

On August 15, 2015, Umno Kuantan division chief Datuk Seri Wan Adnan Wan Mamat said the RM2.6 billion was from Saudi Arabia as a form of appreciation of Malaysia “championing Islam” and fighting militant group ISIS.

On August 22, 2015, the then Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the donation came from their “Muslim friends in the Middle East” to help UMNO fight DAP in the general election, as the party was funded by Jews.

On the very same day of August 22, 2015, the then Acting UMNO Deputy President Zahid Hamidi said he met the donors’ representatives who informed him that the funds were in appreciation for the government’s efforts in countering terrorism, and to help Barisan Nasional maintain Malaysia’s status as a Sunni county.

These different and even conflicting versions were most ridiculous, as one needs only to point out that ISIS only came into existence in mid-2014 while the RM2.6 billion donations were deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts in March 2013!

May be, Najib could explain in Parliament tomorrow how he could give such high praise for the exploits of Islamic State’s predecessor, ISIL or ISIS, at the 20th anniversary dinner of UMNO Cheras Branch on June 24, 2014, calling on UMNO members to emulate the bravery of the ISIL/ISIS terrorists, when he is supposed to be an exemplar of international warrior against Islamic State, ISIL or ISIS?

Was it also because he did not mind being in the exalted company of global kleptocrats provided he could enjoy life-long immunity and impunity that he was indifferent to the additional filing of the US DoJ kleptocratic litigation for the forfeiture of US$1.7 billion 1MDB-linked assets in June 2016 although there were 10 “killer paragraphs”” which exposed him as a liar for claiming that the RM2.6 billion deposits in his personal banking accounts were donations for Saudi royalty.

In fact, I issued a statement on 16th June 2016 to specifically ask the Attorney-General Tan Sri Apandi Ali whether he had read the ten “killer paragraphs” in US DoJ’s additional 1MDB kleptocratic filings to forfeit US$1.7 billion 1MDB assets – i.e. Paragraphs 339 – 348 under the section “$681 MILLION WAS TRANSFERRED FROM THE TANORE ACCOUNT TO AN ACCOUNT BELONGING TO MALAYSIAN OFFICIAL 1)” which directly linked Najib’s RM2.6 billion donation to 1MDB, and why no action had been taken by the Malaysian authorities to defend the country’s honour and integrity.

In fact, Paragraph 346 referred to Part VI.CC of the US DoJ litigation, which traced how a portion of the US$620 million the MO1 alleged to have returned was passed through various additional accounts controlled by
1MDB mastermind Jho Low and ultimately used to purchase the US$27.3 million 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace for the wife of “MO1”.

It is time that Najib make a clean breast of his involvement in the 1MDB scandal in Parliament tomorrow.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah Lim Kit Siang on Sunday, 22nd July 2018)