Liow Tiong Lai, who has returned to Malaysian politics by being the Barisan Nasional candidate for Bentong in the 15th General Election, must explain why as Bentong MP from 1999-2018, MCA President and Transport Minister, he had never raised a finger to stop Malaysia from being “kleptocracy at its worst” or even once condemned the monstrous 1MDB scandal.

This is a question which had always mystified me and I had no opportunity to ask this question.

Now that Tiong Lai has made a come-back in Malaysian politics, this is the first question he should enlighten the Malaysian public.

How could Malaysian political leaders and Ministers, like Liow Tiong Lai, be not aware that the 1MDB scandal is one of the major corruption scandals in the world when the world press were full of reports on the 1MDB corruption for years?

If not for the 14GE on May 9, 2018 which toppled the UMNO/BN government, the 1MDB scandal will still be with us, putting Malaysia into greater debts.

But the 1MDB scandal is still with us, for our children and children’s children will have to pay the national debts caused by the 1MDB scandal.

Now the former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is serving his 12-year jail sentence for some of his 1MDB corruption scandals, this lead to the question why UMNO/BN leaders and Ministers in the Najib Razak government had aided and abetted Najib in the 1MDB corruption crimes.

I call on every Minister in the Najib Cabinet to explain what each had done to stop the 1MDB scandal or to make a confession how he or she had aided and abetted in the 1MDB corruption crime.

All the Najib Ministers had failed Malaysia in not stopping the 1MDB corruption scandal, and unless they clear themselves, they should not be standing as candidates in the 15th General Election and should withdraw their candidature before Nov. 19, 2022.

(Speech by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang at the DAP Bentong 15GE ceramah on Sunday, November 12, 2022 at 10 am)