Does Najib still enjoy loyal support of BN MPs, asks Kit Siang

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 – On Saturday, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor met with their supporters at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), in an event that did not receive coverage by most media.

Some reports and photos have been shared on Facebook but it was obvious that the whole intention was to make it a private expression of the support the couple still have among some Malaysians.

Najib continued to defend himself at the gathering with loyal supporters, telling them that he lost the 14th general election because there was an uneven playing field marred by lies, slanders and empty promises by Pakatan Harapan and not the 1MDB scandal.

The big question however if, aside from Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, are other Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders willing to stand by Najib following all the charges levelled against him in Malaysia, as well as the recent charges by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) against Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and two Goldman Sachs bankers for conspiring to launder billions of dollars from 1MDB.

Will opposition MPs continue to back Najib?

In a statement today, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang also questioned, six months after the historic GE14 which saw a change of government after 61 years, if the current opposition parties and MPs still believed the 1MDB scandal did not exist?

“Let every opposition MP declare his or her stand during the budget debate starting on November 12 on whether the 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy or whether all the things said by the Harapan government on the 1MDB scandal were lies and slanders.

“Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as parliamentary opposition leader, should by convention be opening up the parliamentary debate on Budget 2019 when Parliament reconvenes on November 12.

“Let me tell Zahid and all opposition MPs that if they are not prepared to declare their individual stand whether 1MDB scandal was a national catastrophe and whether Najib should be held responsible for Malaysia becoming a global kleptocracy, there is no point in their speaking on Budget 2019 in Parliament,” the Iskandar Puteri MP said.

Kit Siang: Why no legal action against “slanders, lies by DoJ”

Going back to Najib’s explanation to his supporters on Saturday, Lim said he should have taken action against the allegations made overseas too, especially in the US.

“If it was all lies and slander, why did Najib and his attorney-general Mohamad Apandi Ali do nothing for two years and allowed the DoJ to tell the world in its 251-page 957-paragraph report of the lies and slander in its civil kleptocratic litigation to forfeit US$1.7 billion out of US4.5 billion 1MDB-linked assets in United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland?

“Even in Singapore, the fallout from the 1MDB scandal resulted in the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) taking a range of measures against banks and individuals, including shutting down two banks, fining another eight while several individuals had been convicted in court and imprisoned, while others were banned from working in the financial industry.

“Are these all lies and slanders too?” Lim asked.

– NMT