Najib insulting Malay rulers if he ignores decree on 1MDB, says newsman

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should act on the call by the Conference of Rulers to find closure to the 1MDB issue, says former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief. – Reuters pic, October 7, 2015.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will be seen as defying the Malay rulers if he does not adhere to their recommendations in relation to the call to investigate state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a veteran newsman said today.

Datuk A. Kadir Jasin also asked if those investigating the troubled state investor, including the Attorney-General (A-G), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), would fear the rulers more or Najib.

“Unless Najib and his extremist supporters have ‘lost their minds’ and are disloyal to the Agong, they would do as has been decreed,” Kadir said in a blog posting today.

“We also want to see if A-G Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, MACC chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, BNM governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) would be loyal to the Malay rulers or loyal and afraid of Najib.”

Najib has been accused of stopping the investigations into the debt-ridden state investment vehicle after removing the previous A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and promoting several PAC members, including chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed to his Cabinet.

Gani was heading the special task force investigating 1MDB. The task force has since been disbanded and all agencies ordered to work independently.

Taking a shot at the prime minister, Kadir said that Najib was not only a Bugis warrior, but also one of four "Orang Besar" in Pahang, making him knowledgeable about the Rulers' sovereignty.

"It is not every day that the Malay Rulers come up with an edict about the country's administration. But when they do about 1MDB investigations, surely it is because it was urgent and needed.

"In other words, the Malay Rulers feel like they can no longer keep quiet," said the former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times group.

In a statement yesterday, the Malays rulers said they wanted the government to complete the probe into 1MDB as soon as possible and take "the appropriate stern action" against all found to be implicated.

They said the failure of the government to give convincing clarifications and answers is feared to have resulted in a crisis of confidence.

According to the statement, the Malay rulers were worried that if the issue was allowed to drag on, it could jeopardise the country's economy and the livelihood of the people.

- TMI