Shahbudin: RM2.6b for shopping the world over

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Umno leaders should not contradict each other on the RM2.6 billion.

KUALA LUMPUR: It’s obvious that Umno leaders, and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, are wracked by guilt over the RM2.6 billion controversy. They are at a wit’s end on how to explain the money although the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) has said that, except for a RM42 million component from SRC International Sdn Bhd, it was a political donation from an individual in the Middle East.

“The MACC has said the money was halal but yet Umno leaders and Najib continue to give the public various explanations on the RM2.6 billion and contradict each other in the process,” said a political analyst in his latest blog posting. “By right, they should cease all explanations on the issue and just keep quiet. That would not be ‘wrong’ after MACC.”

“Again, if they really want to explain despite MACC, they must give just one believable reason.”

Instead of coming up with so many explanations, ranging from political donation to Islamic State, Islam, Sunnah Wal Jamaah, and to fight the DAP funded by Jews and other reasons, said Shahbudin Husin “tongue-in-cheek, it would be better for Umno leaders to claim “a more believable reason” for the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s personal accounts: the amount was donated for the Prime Minister and family to go shopping all over the world.

“This is the answer to prevent Umno leaders coming up with so many different explanations on the RM2.6 billion, almost on a daily basis, and providing even more material for the public to reel in laughter.”

If anyone doesn’t believe that the shopping answer would explain the RM2.6 billion and satisfy the public, said Shahbudin, “just ask Zahid or Ahmad Maslan to step forward and publicly give this explanation.”

“Najib and Umno leaders should forget all the other reasons advanced so far and stop coming up with new explanations every day for the RM2.6 billion.”

Even Najib and Rosmah can only be amused to no end as various Umno leaders fall all over themselves, determined to defend Najib, in coming come up with various explanations for the RM2.6 billion in his personal accounts, said the analyst.

He pointed out that even sacked Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, six years on the job, didn’t know about the RM2.6 billion until it was reported by the Wall Street Journal as having been deposited in Najib’s personal accounts with AmBank Islamic private banking services before the last General Election in 2013. “Muhyiddin couldn’t explain the RM2.6 billion and 1MDB when the people asked him.”

However, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who has been on the job as Deputy Prime Minister less than a month, has outdone Muhyiddin and everyone else by explaining the RM2.6 billion, conceded the analyst. “He said the RM2.6 billion was given so that Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) would continue to remain in power.”

“He said that he had met with the donor in person and had also seen the original documents on the donation. Wahh, hebatnya . . .(Wahh, that’s really great!).

Zahid added the RM2.6 billion was a donation because of Malaysia’s commitment on combating violence, holding firm to the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah branch of Islam, and practising a moderate form of the religion, said Shahbudin. “It’s obvious that Zahid should have been appointed Deputy Prime Minister even before Musa Hitam.”

Revisiting the issue of Ahmad Maslan, the one who was booed by the Umno Pontian delegates during their annual general meeting recently, he recalled that he had once said that “the Prime Minister is not stupid to allow such funds (RM2.6 billion) to be deposited in his personal accounts.”

Mursyidul Am PAS Haron Din, belabouring in the delusion that Najib was smarter than he looks, recalled Shahbudin, was convinced that it doesn’t make sense that such an amount was deposited in the Prime Minister’s personal accounts in the country. “It would have made more sense – if it had been claimed – that such funds were deposited in a secret account outside the country,” quoted Haron Din as saying.

Najib, obviously getting carried away by Haron Din’s belief that he was really smart, noted Shahbudin, then stepped forward to publicly thank the Mursyidul Am PAS and cite his statement as proof that if he wanted to steal public funds, he wouldn’t do so and keep it in his personal accounts in the country”.

Other Umno leaders did not want to be outdone either and literally poured fuel on the fire by coming forward with various statements.

Umno Supreme Council member Sharkar Shamsuddin ventured the theory that Najib and Umno have probably become targets of a foreign conspiracy to weaken Malays and Islam in the country considering the fact that the party has 89 seats in Parliament compared with PAS which has only 21 seats.

After that, said Shahbudin, various allegations were leveled at the WSJ including one that it had published a false report. “The allegations against the WSJ only stopped after it was officially confirmed that RM2.6 billion was really deposited in Najib’s accounts as reported by the newspaper.”

Then, said the analyst, the tone of the Umno leaders obviously switched even after the MACC statement to trot out various “justifications” for the RM2.6 billion. “Umno leader Aziz Kaprawi’s claim that the RM2.6 billion was to help Umno fight DAP which was funded by Jews, takes the cake!”

Najib himself, said the analyst, appointed the Jewish-owned APCO as his international media consultants.

“Aziz didn’t learn a lesson from the experience of Umno Kuantan division chief Wan Adnan Wan Mamat who linked the RM2.6 billion, deposited in March 2013, as being from Saudi Arabia in gratitude for helping fighting IS. In fact, IS did not exist then.”