Kit Siang: Najib’s threats not in letter to WSJ - Shane Fuentes

Najib also failed to act against former Prime Minister Mahathir after making various allegations against him.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must move forward and cannot continue even for another day in the state of government morass and national paralysis induced by the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and crisis.

It’s crystal clear that Malaysia cannot afford to have a Prime Minister who has been stripped of all credibility, moral authority and legitimacy as the head of government. 

“The fact that there’s no legal requirement to compel the Prime Minister to vacate his position or go on leave while investigations on the Wall Street Journal report and allegations are ongoing, is besides the point,” said DAP elder statesman Lim Kit Siang.

“So where does the government and the nation go from here?”

He was commenting on a take by former Attorney-General Abu Talib Othman.

From the letter sent to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s lawyers, there appears to be room for dispute as to whether the American publication’s report on him last Friday was defamatory or otherwise, pointed out Lim who is also DAP Parliamentary Leader and Gelang Patah MP.

Najib has notched up another precedent, lamented Lim. “His lawyers have sent a letter which is ambivalent. It paves the way for the Prime Minister to sue or not to sue WSJ for publication of a report that Malaysian government investigators have found almost USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB’s funds deposited into Najib’s personal accounts at AmBank.”

Lim cannot hazard a guess on WSJ’s response to the letter by Najib’s lawyers, but under the circumstances, he thinks that no one can rule out a scenario where the report remains while no legal action is instituted by Najib’s lawyers against the American newspaper.

The letter was not what Malaysians had been led to expect with the various threats of legal action against WSJ for its report and allegation, added Lim. “The contents are conspicuously absent on any forthright demand to WSJ to apologise for the defamation of the Prime Minister and withdrawal of the report concerned with the undertaking, among others, not to repeat such defamation.”

Najib also failed to take action against former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after making various allegations against him. “Najib has accused Mahathir of ‘masterminding’ the latest allegation against him and working ‘hand in glove’ with foreigners as a continuation of the political sabotage against his Prime Ministership.”

“Is Najib instead going to institute legal action against Mahathir for the falsehoods and lies being leveled against the Prime Minister?” asked Lim.

He reminded that Mahathir had retorted in his blog that it was Najib and not him who has embarrassed the nation with the 1MDB imbroglio. He quoted Mahathir as saying: “In other nations, a scandal like this involving a leader would have seen him resign and apologizing.”

“But in Malaysia, there are those who defend the leader without reason, just to safeguard their positions.”

Mahathir went on to say, reminded Lim, “It is Najib who embarrassed the nation with his 1MDB. Before this, the country has never been ridiculed with allegations that have gone unanswered.”

Najib’s lawyers, Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, have asked Dow Jones, the owner of WSJ, to respond within 14 days “whether it is your position, as taken in the articles, that our client misappropriated nearly USD700 million from 1MDB”.