After Dewan, Najib now trying to mislead Speaker, claims Pua
PETALING JAYA: Damansara MP Tony Pua claims that Najib Razak is now trying to mislead Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun over the repayment of 1MDB’s principal debts after allegedly misleading the lower house previously. On Monday, Azhar said Najib had submitted his explanation on the issue and that a copy…
PETALING JAYA: Damansara MP Tony Pua claims that Najib Razak is now trying to mislead Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun over the repayment of 1MDB’s principal debts after allegedly misleading the lower house previously.
On Monday, Azhar said Najib had submitted his explanation on the issue and that a copy had been sent to Pua for the DAP MP to respond to. After that, he said, he will decide if Najib had misled the House.
In his response in a letter sent to the Speaker’s office yesterday, which Pua shared with the media today, he said Najib had admitted in his explanation that 1MDB’s principal debts were paid in 2017 and 2018, when he was the finance minister and prime minister.
But Pua said Najib’s explanation was an “afterthought”, pointing out that his words in the Dewan Rakyat were, “The reality is that not one sen of 1MDB’s principal debts has been repaid”.
Pua said Najib’s remarks were “absolute” and that they did not reflect that he was only referring to the repayment of principal debts when Pakatan Harapan was in the federal government.
He also said the explanation that the 2017 and 2018 repayments were from the sale of 1MDB assets was not true, citing the finance minister’s letter to Azhar which stated that the repayments for the two years were through the finance ministry and Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc).
“Clearly, the Pekan MP showed his intention to mislead the Dewan Rakyat. Worse still, he has tried to mislead you in his explanation to you,” he claimed.
Pua also said Najib failed to give any facts to back up how he deduced that 1MDB could save up to RM50 billion by taking over Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
Instead, he claimed, Najib’s explanations cited “irrelevant facts” that had no causal relationship to the matter.
He also said the former prime minister offered no explanation as to how 1MDB taking over three private IPPs had contributed to Petronas’ cash reserves.
“Therefore, I stress that the Pekan MP has failed to offer any explanation to back up his claims made in his speech in the Dewan Rakyat on March 2. The Pekan MP has tried to confuse you with additional facts that are false and baseless.
“His refusal to apologise or retract his claims that clearly misled the House shows his intention to mislead the House,” said Pua, as he urged Azhar to refer Najib to the Rights and Privileges Committee for misleading the MPs and insulting the House. — Free Malaysia Today