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AG has made it worse for Najib

January 28, 2016

Apandi's decision to clear the PM has ironically immortalised the controversy over the Saudi donation.

COMMENT

by Dzulkefly Ahmad

So the Attorney-General thinks he has finally buried the controversy over the RM2.6 billion donation given to Prime Minister Najib Razak. On the contrary, he has immortalised the acrimony till Doomsday.

It is now impossible for the PM to regain the trust he has lost. Indeed, it is likely that he’ll even lose whatever trust he has left, if there’s any by now.

The announcements Apandi Ali made at Tuesday’s press conference have left the nation gasping in disbelief. The latest revelation of an admission by an unnamed Saudi source that his country indeed donated the RM2.6 billion to Najib is nothing short of bewildering. The late King Abdullah must have turned in his grave.

The rakyat must find it atrocious to hear that the money was to be used in efforts to counter the potential of Muslim Brotherhood influence in Malaysia and to help the PM win the 2013 polls.

So we are to believe that the nation is under the hegemonic influence not only of the United States, Europe and China, but also of a nation advocating a brand of Islam called Wahhabism, which is quite at variance with the brand of Islam championed by the Malaysian government, Jakim and other agencies in the country. What a mind-blowing thought!

For the rakyat to buy into all the ‘fairy tales’, let the AG and the government disclose everything that needs to be disclosed. Perchance, the issue can then be laid to rest.

The AG must disclose the findings of the investigations into the RM2.6 billion donation as well as of the probe into the Finance Ministry-owned SRC International.

To recap, the Saudi donation was transferred in 2013, whereas the RM42 million from SRC International was channelled into Najib’s accounts in late 2014 and early 2015. Note the time gap between the transactions.

Although SRC International’s RM42 million was transferred into Najib’s personal bank accounts, the AG said that the PM had no knowledge of it and that he was not informed that the sum originated from the former 1MDB subsidiary.

The bone of contention now becomes: who in SRC authorised the transfer? Did SRC have details of Najib’s personal accounts? Who provided those details to the company? The rakyat could very well say it must be Najib or his wife. It is only logical. Do you ever share your personal account with anyone else, except perhaps your wife? How could he be conveniently oblivious and yet grinning? Isn’t all this a blatant lie, to put appropriately?

How could the rakyat reconcile with the fact that the same benefactor who donated money to Najib just before the 2013 general election decided to donate to him again a year later, this time through his SRC account? Was it because Najib was generous enough to return RM2.03 billion from the first donation?

Have we indeed been told everything? Will anyone have to concoct anything else after this? The question that begs an immediate answer would be: if it was so clear and simple, why didn’t Najib tell us all this before? Did he premeditate this decision to agonise the entire nation?

Yes, he has turned to be the greatest destroyer of our nation’s integrity. Why has it taken so long to have this story disclosed and is he sure that there isn’t anything else left to be told or to be thought of later?

Please, Mr AG, don’t hide behind “confidentiality” any more if you want your verdict of “no criminal wrongdoing” to be truly understood.

Just because Najib has returned RM2.03 billion to the Saudi donor, you can’t expect the rakyat to accept that the case is closed.

Why did Bank Negara have to slap AmBank Islamic with a hefty fine of RM53.7 million? You haven’t told us anything about this.

Does it have anything to do with Najib’s personal accounts and is it related to all these donations and benevolent transfers?

Finally, what were the many recommendations made by MACC after it completed its investigations into the RM2.6 billion donation and related probe into SRC International?

The fact that MACC is now seeking a review of the AG’s decision speaks volumes of the resentment felt by its officials.

Should they possess the power to prosecute, we could guess the verdict they would have handed down.

Both the MACC and the Bank Negara, as well as the entire rakyat, want the issue to be put to rest forever, so that we all can move on to rebuild this beleaguered and very embattled nation.

But this “straightforward case”, as alleged by the AG, has been ironically immortalised till kingdom come.

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad is Strategic Director for Parti Amanah Negara

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