Dr M admits ‘creating’ 1MDB crisis — but only to expose wrongdoing

KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday fired his latest salvo at Prime Minister Najib Razak, accepting the latter’s accusation that he has created a political “crisis” out of the failures of state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), and insisting that the best solution would be for Mr Najib to resign.

Dr Mahathir added that although he admits to being the person behind the crisis, it was Mr Najib who had caused it by “borrowing huge sums of money and losing billions of ringgit”.

“I will admit that I am behind the crisis. I am behind it because there is a climate of fear in this country.”

“Lots of people know about the loss of billions of ringgit by 1MDB,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his latest blog post, referring to the reported RM42 billion (S$15 billion) debt pile that 1MDB had amassed in six years since its inception.

“These people are in a position to know because they have seen evidence of this loss. But they are afraid because of actions which the government can take against them. They may lose their jobs, or contracts or expectations of titles etc.”

He said the critics of 1MDB approached him for help but he desisted for a long time, knowing full well that any move on his part to reveal the alleged misdeeds of 1MDB would eventually lead to Mr Najib being questioned.

Dr Mahathir said he first tried to resolve the matter quietly by telling Mr Najib in private that he no longer supported his leadership.

“But there was no result. So I had to go public. Najib has destroyed UMNO and BN,” he claimed, referring to ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) and its linchpin party United National Malays Organisation (UMNO).

“I know he would lose the next election. And then the whole country will see turmoil as no party would have the majority to run the country,” he said.

“So I decided to expose the wrong-doings of 1MDB of which the Prime Minister is effectively the head.

“Is there a crisis? There is. It is caused by the Prime Minister creating 1MDB borrowing huge sums of money and losing billions of ringgit,” Dr Mahathir added.

He urged Mr Najib to step down to allow a full investigation on 1MDB’s debt, insisting that with the Prime Minister still in power, the probe would not be carried out thoroughly.

“If no crimes can be detected and all the money is returned, Najib can come back as Prime Minister and lead BN in the next election,” Dr Mahathir said.

He said by accusing him of starting the so-called crisis, Mr Najib was as good as saying the alleged disappearance of billions of ringgit should be accepted and ignored as though no wrong had been committed.

Dr Mahathir has been calling openly for Mr Najib’s resignation, citing the 1MDB controversy that is currently being investigated by the Auditor-General and the bipartisan Public Accounts Committee.

Despite 1MDB releasing information on how the RM42 billion was spent, Dr Mahathir continued to attack the firm, saying that any information on its investments coming from president and executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy cannot be trusted.

Earlier this week in a blog post, Mr Najib accused Dr Mahathir of causing the “mess” in the country that he now has to bear the brunt for.

“The ‘mess’ that (Dr Mahathir) refers to, is largely of his own making as a result of his attacks and his echoing of Opposition lies and slander,” Mr Najib wrote. He also accused Dr Mahathir of “insinuations, speaking half-truths, cracking misleading jokes and twisting statements to make his views exciting and palatable”.

“Was there a debt of RM42 billion? Yes. Was the money missing? No. But the spin had begun,” Mr Najib said on his blog. AGENCIES