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Opposition pushes for debate on Najib’s future

KUALA LUMPUR — The political crisis confronting Prime Minister Najib Razak over allegations that US$700 million (S$942.2 million) from state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was funnelled to his personal accounts deepened yesterday, with opposition parties demanding an emergency sitting of parliament to discuss the Premier’s future.

KUALA LUMPUR — The political crisis confronting Prime Minister Najib Razak over allegations that US$700 million (S$942.2 million) from state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was funnelled to his personal accounts deepened yesterday, with opposition parties demanding an emergency sitting of parliament to discuss the Premier’s future.

Mr Najib has denied taking any money from the debt-laden state fund or any other entity for personal gain, and said yesterday he had referred “wild allegations” against him to lawyers and would decide any legal steps in a few days.

“My lawyers will advise me on what follow up legal action I can take both in and outside the country,” he said.

“If I wanted to steal, surely I wouldn’t steal the money and bring it into an account in Malaysia. That is, if I wanted to be a robber. But of course, as a Prime Minister, I won’t betray Malaysians and what belongs to Malaysians,” he stressed.

Mr Najib might file a suit as soon as tomorrow against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for its report last Friday, sources close to the Prime Minister told The Star Online.

The WSJ report, citing documents from a preliminary Auditor-General’s report on 1MDB that would be presented to the bipartisan parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) later this month, claimed that the US$700 million was moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Mr Najib’s accounts.

Pressure mounted on Mr Najib over the weekend after the Malaysian Attorney-General said he had received documents “connected to allegations” that money was transferred into the Prime Minister’s accounts. The Attorney-General said the documents were from a task force investigating 1MDB and were obtained after the task force conducted a raid on three companies.

“With the Attorney-General’s confirmation, the WSJ allegation against Najib has assumed an even more serious character and import, sparking a political and government crisis of the first magnitude never seen in Malaysia’s 58-year history,” Mr Lim Kit Siang, the opposition Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) parliamentary leader, said in a statement.

DAP and ally Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) have urged the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat — the Malaysian Parliament’s lower house — to call an emergency sitting tomorrow.

DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago said he and 72 others, including representatives of political parties and non-governmental organisations, had also lodged a police report.

“We have asked that the police investigate the WSJ’s assertion that billions were deposited in Najib’s personal account and take necessary actions,” he told Reuters.

“This is really uncharted territory in Malaysian politics. For the first time ever, we are seeing a Prime Minister facing the possibility of a criminal charge,” said Mr Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who heads the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, a think-tank.

Some ministers have closed ranks behind the Prime Minister. In a statement earlier yesterday, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, who is also Mr Najib’s cousin, said he was interested in finding out the truth behind the allegations.

“Don’t be hasty and immediately punish the Prime Minister because those allegations are just based on a media report that hasn’t been verified,” he said.

Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie Apdal also urged Mr Najib to sue the WSJ if the claims were indeed untrue “so that the government is not seen in a bad light in the eyes of the public and international community”.

Mr Najib’s administration has been rocked by the failings of 1MDB. The firm is RM42 billion (S$14.9 billion) in the red, with the Auditor-General and the PAC being activated to carry out an investigation.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has been calling for Mr Najib’s resignation over the 1MDB scandal, among other things.

On Friday evening, Mr Najib accused Dr Mahathir of working with foreigners to produce the WSJ report. In a Facebook post, the Premier said Dr Mahathir’s attacks began when he refused to implement his predecessor’s personal demands, and said “it was not right for Malaysia to be ruled by proxy”.

The WSJ said on Saturday that its report was based on “solid” and “reliable” documents known to top government officials investigating 1MDB.

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