We must highlight “Ketuanan Malaysia” instead of “Ketuanan Melayu” if we are to return to the nation-building principles and policies embedded in the original Constitution and Rukun Negara and as agreed by the nation’s founding fathers if we are not to be left behind in the sands of time

(Versi BM)

An ethnic Indian may become the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to replace Boris Johnson.

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is at present the front-runner in a race that has been reduced to four Conservative leaders – one man and three women. One of the women, Kemi Badenock is an ethnic Nigerian.

An ethnic Indian has become the Vice President of the United States, while a former Malaysian Chinese, Penny Wong, has become the Foreign Minister of Australia.

Under the Malaysian Constitution, a Malaysian regardless of race, religion or region, could become Prime Minister, but the political reality is such that I do not see any non-Malay becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia during my lifetime or that of my children.

In my 55 years of political work, the thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia had never entered my mind. I am also on public record as saying that although the Malaysian Constitution provides that any Malaysian can be a Prime Minister, I do not see any non-Malay becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia during my lifetime.

In the United States, a black man Barack Obama became the President of the United States – but this took place some 230 years after the establishment of the United States in 1776.

I hope that Malaysia would not need 230 years before a non-Malay can become Prime Minister, but I do not expect a non-Malay to become Prime Minister in the 21st century, but whether there will be a non-Malay Prime Minister in the 22nd or 23rd century will depend on whether the politics of identity will continue to be so primordial and elemental as a political force in the Malaysian political landscape as today.

If such a question whether a non-Malay can become Prime Minister of Malaysia is asked 60 years ago, the nation’s founders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Dr. Ismail, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan would unhesitatingly answered in the positive as there is no constitutional bar – which was separate from the question of whether it was likely to happen.

But today, there are political leaders who openly say that a non-Malay cannot be a Prime Minister of Malaysia because of the concept of “ketuanan Melayu”, which was popularized in 1986 and after.

This is one strong reason why Malaysia is losing out to other countries, like Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and likely to lose to more countries in coming years and decades, including Indonesia and China.

We must highlight “Ketuanan Malaysia” instead of “Ketuanan Melayu” if we are to return to the nation-building principles and policies embedded in the original Constitution and Rukun Negara as agreed by the nation’s founding fathers if we are not to be left behind in the sands of time in the coming years and decades.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 19th July 2022)

Kita perlu tekankan “Ketuanan Malaysia” dan bukannya “Ketuanan Melayu” sekiranya kita hendak kembali kepada prinsip dan dasar asas pembinaan negara seperti yang termaktub di dalam Perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara yang dipersetujui bersama oleh tokoh penubuhan negara untuk mengelakkan Malaysia terus ditinggalkan di belakang

Seorang etnik India mungkin akan menjadi Perdana Menteri United Kingdom yang baharu untuk menggantikan Boris Johnson.

Bekas Menteri Kewangan United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, kini berada di barisan hadapan empat orang dalam perlumbaan untuk menjadi Ketua Parti Konservatif – seorang lelaki dengan tiga orang wanita. Seorang dari wanita tersebut, Kemi Badenock, beretnik Nigeria.

Seorang etnik India telah menjadi Naib Presiden Amerika Syarikat, manakala seorang bekas rakyat Malaysia etnik Cina, Penny Wong, telah menjadi Menteri Luar Negeri di Australia.

Di bawah peruntukan Perlembagaan Malaysia, seorang rakyat Malaysia, tidak kira kaum, agama, atau kawasan, boleh menjadi Perdana Menteri, tetapi dengan realiti politik negara saya tidak jangka untuk melihat sesiapa orang yang bukan-Melayu menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia dalam jangka hayat saya mahupun jangka hayat anak saya.

Dalam 55 tahun pengalaman politik saya, fikiran untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia ini tidak pernah terlintas dalam fikiran saya. Saya pernah katakan secara terbuka, yang walaupun Perlembagaan Malaysia memperuntukan untuk mana-mana rakyat Malaysia menjadi Perdana Menteri, saya tidak jangka untuk melihat mana-mana orang bukan-Melayu menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia dalam jangka hayat saya.

Di Amerika Syarikat, seorang lelaki berkulit hitam, Barack Obama, menjadi Presiden Amerika Syarikat – tetapi perkara ini hanya terjadi 230 tahun selepas penubuhan Amerika Syarikat pada tahun 1776.

Saya harap Malaysia tidak akan memerlukan 230 tahun sebelum seorang yang bukan-Melayu berpeluang untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri, tetapi saya tidak jangka seorang bukan-Melayu menjadi Perdana Menteri dalam abad ke-21. Sama ada akan ada seorang Perdana Menteri bukan-Melayu pada abad ke-22 atau ke-23 akan bergantung kepada sama ada politik identiti akan kekal mendominasi kuasa politik dalam landskap politik negara seperti hari ini.

Sekiranya persoalan mengenai sama ada seorang bukan-Melayu boleh menjadi Perdana Menteri ini ditanyakan enam puluh tahun yang lalu kepada Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Dr. Ismail, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin, atau Tun V.T. Sambanthan, mereka pastinya akan tanpa ragu-ragu menjawab ya memandangkan tidak ada sebarang halangan daripada Perlembagaan untuk perkara ini – yang merupakan satu perkara yang berbeza dengan sama ada ia akan berlaku atau tidak.

Tetapi hari ini, ada pemimpin politik yang secara terbuka mengatakan yang seorang bukan-Melayu tidak boleh menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia kerana konsep “Ketuanan Melayu” yang dipopularkan selepas tahun 1986.

Terdapat satu sebab yang kuat mengapa Malaysia terus ditinggalkan oleh negara-negara lain seperti Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Singapura, Hong Kong, Vietnam, dan mungkin ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara dalam tahun dan dekad yang akan datang, termasuklah di belakang Indonesia dan China.

Kita perlu tekankan “Ketuanan Malaysia” dan bukannya “Ketuanan Melayu” sekiranya kita hendak kembali kepada prinsip dan dasar asas pembinaan negara seperti yang termaktub di dalam Perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara yang dipersetujui bersama oleh tokoh penubuhan negara untuk mengelakkan Malaysia terus ditinggalkan di belakang negara-negara lain dalam tahun-tahun dan dekad-dekad yang akan datang.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Selasa, 19 Julai 2022)

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My media statements reflect my political views and has nothing to do with the DAP leadership, as I have retired from competitive politics and no more in the political front-line

(Versi BM)

I have a message for the Malaysian public. My media statements reflect my political views and has nothing to do with the DAP leadership, as I have retired from competitive politics and no more in the political front-line.

I can understand the horror of some Malaysians at my statement on Sunday that I was prepared to work with Najib Razak for the good the country and not for a portion of the 1MDB riches but first all, Najib must condemn the 1MDB scandal and declare his stand against Malaysia becoming a kleptocracy.

I can understand the response of Malaysians who regard Najib as the embodiment of evil who have brought Malaysia the infamy of a kleptocracy.

But the “Malu Apa BossKU” phenomenon is proof that many Malaysians still place Najib on a high pedestal despite the 1MDB scandal.

If we can make Malaysians who still worship Najib in the “Malu Apa BossKU” phenomenon realise that corruption and the 1MDB financial scandal are crimes against the country and Malaysians, and if we get Najib to personally condemn the 1MDB scandal as corruption and a crime against Malaysia, it is a worthwhile effort.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday, July 20, 2022)

Kenyataan media saya hanyalah merupakan pendapat politik saya sendiri dan tidak mempunyai sebarang kaitan dengan pimpinan DAP memandangkan saya telah pun bersara dari politik kompetitif dan barisan hadapan politik

Saya mempunyai kepada rakyat Malaysia. Kenyataan media saya hanyalah merupakan pendapat politik saya sendiri dan tidak mempunyai sebarang kaitan dengan pimpinan DAP memandangkan saya telah bersara dari politik kompetitif dan barisan hadapan politik negara.

Saya boleh memahami perasaan terkejut sesetengah rakyat Malaysia mengenai kenyataan saya pada hari Ahad lepas yang mengatakan saya bersedia untuk bekerjasama dengan Najib demi kepentingan negara dan bukannya untuk mendapat kekayaan 1MDB, tetapi Najib perlulah bersedia untuk mengecam skandal 1MDB dan mengumumkan pendiriannya menentang Malaysia dari menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi.

Saya faham perasan rakyat Malaysia yang melihat Najib sebagai sumber segala kejahatan yang telah membawa malu kepada negara sehingga Malaysia dikenali sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi.

Namun, fenomena “Malu Apa Bossku” ini menjadi bukti yang masih ramai rakyat Malaysia yang memandang tinggi terhadap Najib walaupun dengan skandal 1MDB.

Sekiranya kita dapat membuatkan mereka yang masih menyembah Najib dan fenomena “Malu Apa Bossku” ini untuk menyedari yang rasuah dan skandal kewangan 1MDB ini adalah jenayah terhadap negara kita dan rakyat Malaysia, dan sekiranya kita dapat membuatkan Najib sendiri untuk mengecam skandal 1MDB sebagai satu bentuk korupsi dan jenayah terhadap negara, ia adalah satu usaha yang berbaloi.

(Kenyataan Media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Parlimen pada hari Rabu, 20 Julai 2022)

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Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) would have been recognised if Pakatan Harapan government had governed for  five years as was its mandate instead of being toppled in 22 months by the Sheraton Move conspiracy

(Versi BM)

The United Examination Certificate (UEC) would have been recognised if the Pakatan Harapan government had governed for five years as was its mandate instead of being toppled in 22 months by the Sheraton Move conspiracy.

At the DAP national retreat held in early 2019 attended by DAP leaders and Members of Parliament, the then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was asked this question and his answer gave confidence that the UEC would be recognised before the conclusion of the five-year government of Pakatan Harapan.

This thought came up when I received a copy of a FreeMalaysiaToday (FMT) report in 2017 relaying auditor Farar Halijah Halim’s testimony that Chinese primary schools were not seedbeds of racialism promoting anti-Malay sentiments but patriotic crucibles promoting national unity which should be a must reading for all Malaysians who want to go against the Constitution and close down Chinese primary schools.

The FMC report with the headline “Chinese schools promote unity, says Malay UEC grad” by Nawar Firdaws datelined Feb. 4, 2017, reported:

“PETALING JAYA: Farah Halijah Halim, 29, says that contrary to what some Malaysians say, Chinese schools in her opinion, promote unity among the various races in Malaysia.

“Farah told FMT of her first-hand experience, relating how her primary and secondary school education in Chinese schools had taught her how to interact better with those of other races.

“’In a way, it (Chinese school education) taught me the value of acceptance. Instead of demanding people respect and understand my needs, I learnt how to tolerate other people’s points of view as well.’

“She said her non-Malay peers were also sensitive about the halal and haram aspect of Islam and were genuinely curious about how Malays lived.

“’Some asked about the religious aspects (of Muslims), like the need to wear a tudung (headscarf) and why we need to fast.’

“She said she was also mindful of the fact that her Chinese education meant she would have to learn Mandarin, a language she can speak fluently today as well as Cantonese, which she picked up from her Chinese friends in school.

“Farah said everyone at school mingled freely with those of other races, proving wrong opponents of vernacular schools, who claimed that anything other than national schools failed to promote unity among multiracial Malaysians.

“’It’s the same as going to expensive international schools, right? Does that mean that international schools do not promote unity by segregating the rich from the poor?

“’And what proof do we have that national schools really promote unity among the races?

“’At Foon Yew (Chinese school), they preach the ‘Foon Yew people’ principle, where students are taught not to discriminate against those of other races. Everyone is equal.’

“So enriching was her education at SJKC Foon Yew, one of the largest independent Chinese schools in Malaysia, that Farah emerged as one of the top students of the class of 2005.

“’I was the valedictorian as well as the class representative. To get such a recognition was an honour.

“1It was a big school and over 1,000 students graduated that year. I was selected as the student speaker for the graduation ceremony,’ she told FMT, reminiscing with great pride her student days.”

Farar graduated from Cardiff University, one of the top universities worldwide. Farah was a qualified auditor in one of the largest auditing firms in the world, Ernst & Young, otherwise known as EY.

Despite the difficulty she faced with her UEC qualification, Farah said she did not regret her experience, especially as it equipped her with all the skills she needed to be a success in life.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday 20th July 2022)

Sijil Peperiksaan Dipersatukan (UEC) akan diiktiraf kerajaan sekiranya kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dapat mentadbir sepanjang mandat lima tahunnya dan bukannya ditumbangkan selepas 22 bulan mentadbir melalui konspirasi Langkah Sheraton

Sijil Peperiksaan Dipersatukan (UEC) akan diiktiraf kerajaan sekiranya kerajaan Pakatan Harapan dapat mentadbir sepanjang mandat lima tahunnya dan bukannya ditumbangkan selepas 22 bulan mentadbir melalui konspirasi Langkah Sheraton.

Dalam majlis pemukiman kebangsaan DAP yang diadakan pada awal tahun 2019 yang dihadiri oleh pemimpin dan ahli-ahli parlimen DAP, Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad ditanya mengenai perkara ini dan jawapannya memberikan keyakinan yang UEC akan diiktiraf sebelum tamatnya mandat lima tahun Pakatan Harapan.

Perkara ini terlintas dalam fikiran saya apabila saya menerima senaskhah laporan FreeMalaysiaToday (FMT) – dari tahun 2017 yang menyampaikan pengalaman seorang auditor, Farah Halijah Halim, yang mengatakan sekolah rendah Cina bukanlah tempat yang menyebarkan sentimen perkauman, sebaliknya menjadi tempat patriotik yang menggalakkan semangat perpaduan negara – yang perlu dibaca oleh semua pihak yang cuba melanggar Perlembagaan dan menuntut supaya sekolah rendah Cina ditutup.

Laporan FMT yang bertajuk “Sekolah Cina mengalakkan perpaduan, kata lepasan UEC Melayu” dari Nawar Firdaws diterbitkan pada 4 Februari 2017:

“PETALING JAYA: Farah Halijah Halim, 29, berkata, bertentangan dengan apa yang dikatakan oleh sesetengah rakyat Malaysia, sekolah Cina pada pendapatnya, menggalakkan perpaduan dalam kalangan pelbagai kaum di Malaysia.

“Farah memberitahu FMT tentang pengalaman pertamanya, menceritakan bagaimana pendidikan sekolah rendah dan menengahnya di sekolah Cina telah mengajarnya cara berinteraksi dengan lebih baik dengan kaum lain.

“’Dalam satu cara, ia (pendidikan sekolah Cina) mengajar saya nilai penerimaan. Daripada menuntut orang lain menghormati dan memahami keperluan saya, saya belajar bagaimana untuk bertolak ansur dengan pandangan orang lain juga.’

“Dia berkata rakan sebayanya yang bukan Melayu juga sensitif tentang aspek halal dan haram Islam dan benar-benar ingin tahu tentang cara hidup orang Melayu.

“‘Ada yang bertanya tentang aspek agama (orang Islam), seperti keperluan memakai tudung (tudung) dan mengapa kita perlu berpuasa.’

“Dia berkata dia juga menyedari hakikat bahawa pendidikan Cinanya bermakna dia perlu belajar bahasa Mandarin, bahasa yang dia boleh bercakap dengan fasih hari ini serta bahasa Kantonis, yang dia ambil daripada rakan Cina di sekolah.

“Farah berkata semua orang di sekolah bergaul bebas dengan kaum lain, membuktikan penentang salah sekolah vernakular, yang mendakwa bahawa apa-apa selain sekolah kebangsaan gagal menggalakkan perpaduan dalam kalangan rakyat Malaysia yang berbilang kaum.

“‘Ia sama seperti pergi ke sekolah antarabangsa yang mahal, bukan? Adakah itu bermakna sekolah antarabangsa tidak menggalakkan perpaduan dengan mengasingkan yang kaya dengan yang miskin?

“‘Dan apakah bukti yang kita ada bahawa sekolah kebangsaan benar-benar menggalakkan perpaduan antara kaum?

“‘Di Foon Yew (sekolah Cina), mereka mengajar prinsip ‘orang Foon Yew’, di mana pelajar diajar untuk tidak mendiskriminasi kaum lain. Semua orang adalah sama.’

“Begitu memperkayakan pendidikannya di SJKC Foon Yew, salah sebuah sekolah Cina persendirian terbesar di Malaysia, sehingga Farah muncul sebagai salah seorang pelajar terbaik kelas 2005.

“‘Saya adalah ahli valedictorian dan juga wakil kelas. Mendapat pengiktirafan sedemikian adalah satu penghormatan.

“Ia adalah sekolah yang besar dan lebih 1,000 pelajar menamatkan pengajian pada tahun itu. Saya telah dipilih sebagai penceramah pelajar untuk majlis graduasi,’ katanya kepada FMT, sambil mengenang dengan penuh bangga zaman pelajarnya.”

Farah menamatkan pengajiannya di Universiti Cardiff, salah satu universiti yang terkemuka dunia dan Farah merupakan seorang auditor bertauliah di salah satu firma audit terulung di dunia, Ernst & Young, yang lebih dikenali sebagai EY.

Walaupun dengan halangan yang dihadapi dengan sijil UECnya, Farah mengatakan yang dia tidak menyesali pengalamannya ini, terutamanya apabila pengalaman ini memberikannya semua kemahiran yang diperlukannya untuk berjaya dalam kehidupan.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Rabu, 20 Julai 2022)

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Reply to Thayaparan:  I will never launder Najib’s reputation

(Versi BM)

Yesterday, I issued a short five-paragraph statement which tantamounts to a declaration that I will never launder Najib Razak’s reputation, and it is a pity that S. Thayaparan, who wrote COMMENT piece “Kit Siang helps Najib launder his reputation” today did not read or chose to ignore the statement.

An example that I will never launder Najib’ reputation was what happened in the Johore state general election early this year, where I said that the DAP MP Damansara Tony Pua went too far in attacking the Foon Yew school board of governors but he was right in condemning Najib Razak in using Foon Yew to exculpate his kleptocracy.

In my media statement dated March 2, 2022, I had said:

“For the last few days, I have been saying that UMNO has forced the holding of the Johor state general election on March 12, 2022 not to defend the lives and livelihoods of the people to enable life and the economy to re-open after more than two years of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, but to force the early holding of the 15th General Election to enable Najib Razak to return as the 10th or 11th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

“The ulterior motive of the UMNO masters is clear. Although none of the UMNO ‘court cluster’ is a candidate in the Johor state general election, it is obvious that the UMNO “court cluster” are calling the shots as they want early 15th General Election so that they can escape punishment and go to jail for their corruption and their abuses of power when they were in government.

“This is why Najib Razak, the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, is campaigning so hard in the Johor general election to spread his message of ‘Malu Apa BossKU’, promoting the immoral concept that political leaders need not have moral standards of honesty, probity and accountability.

“The Johor voters should take heed of what is happening in New York in the criminal trial of a Malaysian banker Roger Ng for corruption in the billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

“For many years, I have wondered why superstars appeared in the 31st birthday party of one of the two protagonists of the 1MDB scandal, Jho Low – a party which the Wall Street Journal had described as “the wildest party (Las) Vegas ever saw”.

“The answer was provided in the criminal trial of Roger Ng in New York in the last two weeks.

“Jho Low spent millions of ringgit in one night from 1MDB funds throwing an extravagant 31st birthday party attended by superstars, who were paid ‘celebrity charges’ for attending his lavish bash -: Leonard DiCaprio (US$250,000), Paris Hilton (US$100,000), Megan Fox ($US250,000) and Kim Kardashian (US$50,000).

“Invoices were produced to show that Jho Low’s Las Vegas party costs US$3.6 million or some RM10 million in one night.

“If these were from Jho Low’s fortune, it would be a separate matter, but he spent from the 1MDB funds, which had to be repaid by Malaysians of this and future generations.”

Is this “laundering” of Najib’s reputation?

In the March 2, 2022 statement, I also said:

“In fact, the then US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions even described it (1MDB scandal) at the time as ‘kleptocracy at its worst’.

“Roger Ng’s lawyer had admitted that the 1MDB scandal is “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world” and it is therefore all the more shocking that the other protagonist in the 1MDB scandal, Najib Razak, has shown absolutely no compunction or regret whatsoever over the 1MDB scandal and for turning Malaysia into a kleptocracy.

”For the first time in the 65-year history of elections in Malaysia, we are having an election where a major political party is elevating ‘shamelessness’ as a public good, where its political leaders need not have moral standards or guilt for making Malaysia as a kleptocracy, where political leaders cannot differentiate between what is right and wrong, what is corruption and abuse of power and what is not.

“Is this going to be the fate of Malaysia – far from becoming a world-class great nation but doomed to become a kleptocracy, kakistocracy and a failed state.

“This is what the Johore state general election on March 12 is also all about.

”I believe that all the great civilisations and religions of the world want their leaders, in fact the people, to have moral standards and can differentiate between right and wrong – to have a feeling of shame where they have lost their moral compass – and not to end up as a society where political leaders have no sense of shame at their corruption and abuses of power.”

Only Thayaparam can see “laundering of Najib’s reputation” in these words!

In his COMMENT piece, Thayaparam wrote:

“Lim is peddling the same manure as religious operatives by downplaying the extent of not only Najib’s corruption but also that when a man supposedly changes, all his sins are washed away.”

Thayaparan also reminded everyone that Najib was willing to take an oath saying that he had nothing to do with 1MDB, and asked whether that was good enough for me.

Thayaparan is making quite puerile statements and my answer to him is a short one – it is not good enough for me for Najib to make empty oaths.

I would want Najib not only to condemn the 1MDB scandal and deplore Malaysia being turned into a kleptocracy, but to declare that the “Malu Apa BossKU” campaign is a new infamy for Malaysia and demonstrates that there are Malaysians who could not differentiate right from wrong and seem to regard corruption and 1MDB scandal as something honourable.

I would also want Najib to serve his jail sentence as handed down by the courts as an example to all Malaysian leaders to stay far away from corruption and kleptocracy.

I am not laundering Najib’s reputation. Is Thayaparan doing so?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Thursday, 21st July 2022)

Jawab balas kepada Thayarapan: Saya tidak akan sama sekali cuci reputasi Najib

Semalam saya ada mengeluarkan kenyataan pendek lima perenggan yang merupakan satu pengumuman yang saya tidak akan sama sekali mencuci reputasi Najib Razak, dan amat malang sekali apabila S. Thayarapan, yang menulis artikel KOMEN yang bertajuk “Kit Siang bantu Najib cuci reputasinya” tidak membaca atau memilih untuk mengabaikan kenyataan tersebut.

Satu contoh bukti yang saya tidak akan mencuci reputasi Najib ini adalah apa yang berlaku semasa pilihan raya negeri Johor pada awal tahun ini, di mana saya telah katakan yang MP DAP untuk Damansara, Tony Pua, telah keterlaluan apabila dia menyerang lembaga pengurusan sekolah Foon Yew tetapi tindakannya yang mengecam Najib Razak yang mempergunakan Foon Yew untuk mengatakannya tidak bersalah atas kleptokrasi.

Dalam kenyataan media saya yang bertarikh 2 Mac 2022, saya telah katakan:

“Untuk beberapa hari yang lepas ini, saya telah katakan yang UMNO telah memaksa pilihan raya negeri Johor untuk diadakan pada 12 Mac 2022, bukan untuk melindungi nyawa dan punca pendapatan rakyat bagi membolehkan aktiviti kehidupan harian dan sektor ekonomi selepas dua tahun berhadapan dengan wabak membawa maut Covid-19, sebaliknya untuk memaksa Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 diadakan awal untuk membolehkan Najib Razak untuk kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang ke-10 atau yang ke-11.

“Motif para pemimpin UMNO ini jelas. Walaupun tidak ada mana-mana pun calon UMNO untuk PRN Johor ini datang daripada “kluster mahkamah”, jelas dapat dilihat yang “kluster mahkamah” inilah yang memimpin kempen kerana mereka mahukan PRU-15 diadakan lebih awal lagi supaya mereka semua dapat mengelakkan hukuman penjara kerana jenayah rasuah yang dilakukan mereka semasa mereka berada di dalam kerajaan.

“Kerana inilah, Najib Razak, seorang lagi protagonis skandal 1MDB, sedang bersungguh-sungguh berkempen dalam PRN Johor untuk menyebarkan mesej “Apa Malunya BOSSku”, menyebarkan konsep tidak bermoral di mana para pemimpin politik tidak perlu mempunyai standard moral kejujuran, ketelusan, dan akauntabiliti.

“Para pengundi di Johor perlu mengambil iktibar dengan apa yang sedang berlaku di New York dalam perbicaraan jenayah pegawai bank warga Malaysia Malaysia, Roger Ng, atas tuduhan rasuah dalam skandal 1MDB yang bernilai berbillion dollar.

“Untuk sekian lamanya, saya telah tertanya-tanya mengapakah bintang-bintang utama telah hadir ke parti hari jadi ke-31 seorang lagi protagonis skandal 1MDB, Jho Low – parti yang digambarkan oleh Wall Street Journal sebagai “parti yang paling liar yang pernah disaksikan (Las) Vegas”.

“Jawapannya diberikan dalam perbicaraan jenayah Roger Ng di New York minggu lalu.

“Jho Low membelanjakan berjuta-juta ringgit dalam satu malam daripada dana 1MDB dengan mengadakan pesta ulang tahun ke-31 mewah yang dihadiri bintang utama – yang dibayar “caj selebriti” untuk hadir – Leonard DiCaprio (AS$250,000), Paris Hilton (AS$100,000), Megan Fox ($AS250,000) dan Kim Kardashian (AS$50,000).

“Invois telah dikeluarkan untuk menunjukkan bahawa parti Jho Low di Las Vegas menelan kos AS$3.6 juta atau kira-kira RM10 juta dalam satu malam.

“Sekiranya perbelanjaan ini datang daripada kekayaan Jho Low sendiri, ia akan menjadi perkara yang berbeza, tetapi dia membelanjakan dana 1MDB, yang perlu dibayar balik oleh rakyat Malaysia sekarang dan juga oleh generasi yang akan datang.”

Adakah ini yang dikatakan sebagai “mencuci” reputasi Najib?

Dalam kenyataan 2 Mac 2022 ini juga saya telah katakan:

“Malah, bekas Peguam Negara AS Jeff Sessions menyifatkannya (skandal 1MDB) sebagai “kleptokrasi yang paling buruk”.

“Peguam Roger Ng telah mengakui bahawa skandal 1MDB adalah “mungkin satu-satunya rompakan terbesar dalam sejarah dunia” dan sebab itulah amat mengejutkan apabila protagonis seorang lagi dalam skandal 1MDB, Najib Razak, langsung tidak menunjukkan rasa kesal dengan skandal 1MDB dan menjadikan Malaysia sebuah kleptokrasi.

“Buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihan raya Malaysia selama 65 tahun, kita mengadakan pilihan raya di mana sebuah parti politik utama mengangkat sifat “tidak tahu malu” sebagai satu nilai moral, di mana pemimpin politiknya tidak perlu mempunyai standard moral atau rasa bersalah untuk menjadikan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara kleptokrasi, di mana pemimpin politik tidak dapat membezakan antara yang betul dan salah, dan membezakan antara rasuah dan salah guna kuasa dan apa yang bukan.

“Adakah ini nasib Malaysia – jauh daripada menjadi negara hebat bertaraf dunia tetapi ditakdirkan untuk menjadi kleptokrasi, kakistokrasi dan negara gagal?

“Inilah intipati pilihan raya umum negeri Johor pada 12 Mac.

“Saya percaya bahawa semua tamadun dan agama besar di dunia mahu pemimpin mereka, malah rakyat mereka. untuk mempunyai standard moral dan boleh membezakan antara yang benar dan salah – mempunyai perasaan malu apabila mereka kehilangan kompas moral mereka – dan bukan untuk berakhir sebagai sebuah masyarakat di mana pemimpin politik tidak mempunyai rasa malu terhadap rasuah dan salah guna kuasa mereka.”

Hanya Thayarapan yang melihat “pencucian reputasi Najib” dalam ayat-ayat berikut!

Dalam artikel KOMENnya, Thayarapan menulis:

“Lim menyebarkan najis yang sama seperti yang dilakukan oleh operatif agama dengan memperkecilkan bukan sahaja tahap rasuah Najib, tetapi juga cuba mengatakan yang apabila seseorang itu kononnya berubah, semua dosanya akan dihapuskan.”

Thayarapan juga mengingatkan semua orang yang Najib juga bersedia untuk bersumpah mengatakan yang dia tidak mempunyai apa-apa kaitan dengan 1MDB dan bertanya sama ada perkara ini mencukupi untuk saya.

Thayarapan membuat kenyataan yang tidak matang dan jawapan saya kepadanya pendek sahaja – sumpah kosong dari Najib ini tidak mencukupi untuk saya.

Saya mahu Najib bukan sahaja untuk mengecam skandal 1MDB dan keadaan di mana Malaysia menjadi sebuah kleptokrasi, tetapi saya juga mahu dia mengakui yang kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” yang dibuatnya juga adalah satu perkara yang membawa malu terhadap negara kita, di mana kempen ini telah menunjukkan bahawa ada rakyat Malaysia yang tidak dapat membezakan di antara perkara yang betul dengan perkara yang salah dan melihat rasuah dan skandal 1MDB sebagai suatu perkara yang mulia.

Saya juga mahu Najib menjalani hukuman penjaranya seperti yang telah disabitkan oleh mahkamah untuk menjadi tauladan kepada semua pemimpin di Malaysia untuk tidak terlibat dengan rasuah dan kleptokrasi.

Saya tidak mencuci reputasi Najib. Adakah Thayarapan berbuat demikian?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Parlimen pada hari Khamis, 21 Julai 2022)

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First week of Parliament has exposed it as utterly irrelevant, outmoded and in need of major parliamentary reforms to keep it abreast with modern  trends and developments

(Versi BM)

The first week of Parliament has exposed it as utterly irrelevant, outmoded and in need of major parliamentary reforms to keep it abreast with modern trends and developments.

Three Members of Parliament – Ramkarpal Singh (Harapan – Bukit Gelugor), Salahuddin Ayub (Pakatan Harapan – Pulai) and Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan – Kota Belud) had sought an emergency Dewan Rakyat debate over the seizure of Petronas’ assets by purported descendants of the Sulu sultanate who are claiming US14 billion from Malaysia, but they were blocked by the Speaker Azhar

Azizan Harun who cited sub judice rules to prevent debates in Parliament.

Instead, the government held a closed-door briefing session at Seri Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur last night for parliamentarians on claims over Petronas assets by the purported heirs of the Sulu sultanate.

If a debate on the matter was denied on sub judice grounds, wouldn’t such a closed-door briefing for MPs be similarly improper on sub judice grounds?

I asked an MP who attended last night’s briefing whether anything said at the briefing could not be said in Parliament on security or other grounds, he answered “No”!

What happened at the briefing last night was disclosure on the chronology of the case and should be stated in Parliament, as it is not only MPs but the people of Malaysia, in particular the people of Sabah, who have the right to know the full facts of the matter.

The briefing to MPs yesterday cannot be replacement for a parliamentary debate, which should now be by way of a Ministerial statement followed by a debate.

The Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun was wrong when in response to objections raised by MP for Sepang, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, arguing that his subj judice rulings was incorrect as the rule should be used on a case-by-case basis, the Speaker said that debating the matter could reveal the government’s legal strategies to the enemy.

The Speaker is right that the government’s strategy in any litigation should not be revealed, but it is not the Speaker’s job to impose a blanket ban to prevent any debate on any issue but to uphold a Minister’s right not to disclose such a government strategy.

It is shocking that the important principle of the doctrine of separation of powers and parliamentary supremacy from the Executive should be reduced to disrespect to ushers, but it a disgrace to the Malaysian Parliament that a foul-mouthed parliamentarian could get away with the most unparliamentary attack against women parliamentarians in the House.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 22nd July 2022)

Minggu pertama sidang Parlimen menunjukkan Parlimen yang sudah tidak relevan dan ketinggalan zaman yang memerlukan reformasi parlimen untuk memastikan Parlimen kita terus ke hadapan dengan perkembangan terkini

Minggu pertama sidang Parlimen menunjukkan Parlimen yang sudah tidak relevan dan ketinggalan zaman yang memerlukan reformasi parlimen untuk memastikan Parlimen kita terus ke hadapan dengan perkembangan terkini.

Tiga orang Ahli Parlimen – Ramkarpal Singh (Pakatan Harapan – Bukit Gelugor), Salahuddin Ayub (Pakatan Harapan – Pulai), dan Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan – Kota Belud) telah cuba membawa usul tergempar ke dalam Dewan Rakyat untuk membahas isu rampasan aset Petronas oleh mereka yang mendakwa sebagai waris Kesultanan Sulu yang menuntut sejumlah AS$14 billion dari Malaysia, namun usul ini semua disekat oleh Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun yang memetik peraturan subjudis untuk menyekat perbahasan ini di Parlimen.

Sebaliknya, kerajaan telah mengadakan sesi taklimat pintu tertutup di Hotel Seri Pacific di Kuala Lumpur malam semalam untuk ahli-ahli parlimen mengenai isu ini.

Sekiranya perbahasan disekat atas dasar subjudis, bukankah taklimat di sebalik pintu tertutup seperti yang diadakan semalam ini juga bersifat subjudis?

Saya bertanya kepada ahli-ahli parlimen yang hadir taklimat semalam, sama ada ada apa-apa yang dikatakan dalam taklimat tersebut yang tidak boleh disebut di dalam Parlimen atas sebab-sebab keselamatan atau apa-apa sebab lain, mereka menjawab “Tidak”!

Apa yang berlaku dalam taklimat malam semalam adalah pendedahan kronologi kes dan perkara ini sepatutnya dinyatakan di Parlimen memandangkan bukan sahaja Ahli-ahli Parlimen, malah rakyat Malaysia, terutamanya rakyat Sabah, berhak untuk mendapat maklumat penuh mengenai perkara ini.

Taklimat kepada Ahli-ahli Parlimen semalam tidak boleh menggantikan perbahasan perkara ini di parlimen, yang kini perlu diadakan melalui Kenyataan Menteri di Parlimen disusuli dengan perbahasan mengenai perkara ini.

Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun telah salah apabila dalam memberikan jawab balas kepada bantahan yang dibangkitkan oleh Ahli Parlimen Sepang, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin – yang mengatakan keputusan subjudis Speaker ini tidak tepat kerana peraturan tersebut sepatutnya digunakan mengikut merit kes-kes tertentu itu sendiri – di mana Speaker telah mengatakan perbahasan perkara ini akan mendedahkan strategi perundangan kerajaan kepada pihak lawan.

Speaker memang betul apabila mengatakan yang strategi perundangan kerajaan tidak patut didedahkan, tetapi bukan menjadi tugasnya untuk mengenakan sekatan penuh untuk menghalang sebarang perbahasan mengenai isu ini, sebaliknya tanggungjawabnya hanyalah untuk mempertahankan hak Menteri untuk tidak mendedahkan apa-apa strategi kerajaan.

Amatlah mengejutkan melihat prinsip penting seperti pemisahan kuasa dan keulungan parlimen dari pihak Eksekutif direndahkan sebegini, tetapi lebih memalukan juga apabila kita melihat ahli-ahli parlimen yang bermulut busuk dapat terus terlepas tanpa apa-apa kesan selepas menyerang ahli-ahli parlimen wanita di Dewan.

(Kenyataan Media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 22 Julai 2022)

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The “Malu Apa BossKU” campaign will be mortally crippled,  anti-corruption consciousness take a big leap forward and improvement in  Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI)  if Najib admits and condemns 1MDB corruption

(Versi BM)

After my reply yesterday to Malaysiakini columnist S. Thayaparan who penned “Kit Siang helps Najib launder his reputation”, Thayaparan added a 16-paragraph addendum to his article, which deserves a response.

Thayaparan asked very naïve questions.

Can Thayaparan envisage how the “Malu Apa BossKU” campaign would be mortally crippled and how anti-corruption consciousness will take a big leap if Najib

Razak admits and condemns 1MDB corruption?

Or is Thayaparan like the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Azam Baki who yesterday ran down the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) after seeing Malaysia getting the lowest ranking of No. 62, which will go even lower in the new TI CPI 2022 to be released in January next year?

Najib has emerged as virtually the ultimate UMNO leader, even more powerful and influential than any UMNO leader, and has not relinquished his ambition to return as Malaysia’s Prime Minister, whether tenth or eleventh PM of Malaysia;

How can this national infamy and ignominy be averted?

One way is through the collapse of the “Malu Apa BosskU” campaign and another is for UMNO and Barisan Nasional to rediscover their patriotic duty and return to the nation-building principles and policies which the nation’s founding fathers have written into the Constitution and Rukun Negara, highlighting the principles of Malaysia as a plural society, good governance, integrity of public officials, meritocracy, the rule of law, the doctrine of separation of powers, parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

Has Najib forgotten “swimming pool” lesson of his father, Tun Razak, as recalled by his brother, Nazir Razak in the book ”What’s In A Name” (page 51), where Nazir wrote:

“When we were all still young my brothers and I once trooped into my father’s office with a request to make: we asked him to build a swimming pool in the grounds of Seri Taman. My eldest brother Najib was the ringleader, corralling the rest of us to make the case, standing in front of my father’s desk in his study. My father listened to our proposal carefully and then calmly dismissed it. ‘How would it look,’ he asked, eyebrows raised, ‘if the Prime Minister spent public money on building a swimming pool for his family?’”

In 1979, at the UMNO General Assembly, the third Prime Minister , Hussein Onn warned that Malaysia will be destroyed if its leaders are “dishonest, untrustworthy and corrupt” and expressed the hope that the RM100 million Bank Rakyat scandal would be a “bitter lesson to other government institutions and agencies including companies and subsidiaries set up by the Government”.

Has Najib forgotten the legacies of the first three Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman who wanted Malaysia to be “a haven of peace, harmony and happiness” and “a beacon of light in a difficult and distracted world”; the second Prime Minister and his father Tun Razak Hussein with regard to the “swimming pool” lesson and the third Prime Minister, Tun Hussein Onn’s warning that Malaysia will be destroyed by “dishonest, untrustworthy and corrupt” leaders in creating the monstrous multi-billion dollar mega 1MDB financial scandal with fugitive financier Jho Low?

The Finance Minister, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz told Parliament yesterday that 1MDB debt stood at RM32.08 billion as of June 30.

Between April 2017 and May 2022, the government channelled financial assistance in the form of loans or advances totalling RM10.85 billion via the Finance Ministry and Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) to pay off 1MDB’s debt commitments and interest.

I know nothing about Najib’s allegation of “conflict-of-interest” of the judge who jailed him for 12 years and fined him RM210 million in his first 1MDB corruption trial, but the “conflict-of-interest” issue of the judge raised by Najib, if any, does not touch on the issue of Najib’s 1MDB corruption for which he was jailed 12 years and fined RM210 million.

Even up to now, Najib has taken the position that there is no 1MDB scandal and spawned a “Malu Apa BossKU” movement based on the notion that the 1MDB scandal is a figment of imagination.

Such denial complex by Najib, “Malu Apa BossKU” movement and UMNO can only be punctured by Najib owning up to the 1MDB corruption.

I know that there is very slim chance that Najib would see his patriotic duty to condemn the 1MDB corruption which would not only cripple the “Malu Apa BossKU” movement, caused a great leap in anti-corruption consciousness and even see an improvement in Malaysia’s TI CPI but has Thayaparan any better suggestion?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 22nd July 2022)

Kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” akan dilumpuhkan, kesedaran anti-rasuah dan kedudukan Malaysia dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah akan meningkat sekiranya Najib mengakui kesalahannya dan mengecam korupsi 1MDB

Selepas jawapan balas saya semalam kepada kolumnis Malaysiakini, S. Thayarapan, yang menulis kolum yang bertajuk “Kit Siang membantu Najib mencuci reputasinya”, Thayarapan menambah 16 perenggan lagi kepada artikelnya yang perlu dijawab.

Thayarapan bertanya soalan yang amat naif.

Bolehkah Thayarapan bayangkan bagaimana kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” akan dilumpuhkan, kesedaran anti-rasuah dan kedudukan Malaysia dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah akan meningkat sekiranya Najib mengakui kesalahannya dan mengecam korupsi 1MDB?

Atau adakah Thayarapan ini seperti Ketua Pesuruhjaya Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM), Azam Baki, yang semalam mengkritik Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) yang diterbitkan setiap tahun oleh Transparency International (TI) selepas melihat Malaysia jatuh ke tempat terendah setakat ini di tempat ke-62, yang mana Malaysia mungkin akan mencatatkan kedudukan yang lebih buruk lagi dalam TI CPI 2022 yang akan diterbitkan pada bulan Januari tahun hadapan?

Najib kini dilihat sebagai pemimpin sebenar UMNO, lebih berkuasa dan berpengaruh berbanding mana-mana pemimpin UMNO dan masih belum melepaskan cita-citanya untuk kembali sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia, sama ada sebagai yang ke-10 atau ke-11.

Bagaimanakah perkara yang memalukan ini dapat dielakkan?

Salah satu caranya adalah melalui keruntuhan kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” dan untuk UMNO dan Barisan Nasional menemui semula tugas patriotik mereka dan kembali kepada prinsip dan dasar pembinaan negara yang termaktub dalam perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara, yang menekankan prinsip Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara majmuk, dengan tadbir urus yang baik, penjawat awam yang berintegriti, meritokrasi, kedaulatan undang-undang, doktrin pemisahan kuasa, demokrasi berparlimen, dan sistem raja berperlembagaan.

Adakah Najib telah lupa dengan pengajaran bapanya mengenai kolam renang, di mana bapanya, Tun Razak, seperti yang diceritakan oleh adiknya, Nazir Razak, di dalam bukunya yang bertajuk “What’s In A Name” (halaman 51) di mana Nazir menulis:

“Semasa kecil, saya bersama dengan abang-abang saya pernah ke pejabat bapa kami dengan satu permintaan: kami meminta kepadanya untuk membina sebuah kolam renang di dalam perkarangan Seri Taman. Abang sulung saya, Najib, merupakan ketua rombongan ini, mengumpulkan kami semua untuk meyakinkan bapa kami, sambil berdiri di hadapan meja bapa kami di pejabatnya. Bapa saya mendengar cadangan kami ini dengan teliti dan kemudiannya dengan tenang, menolaknya. “Bagaimanakah rupanya,” beliau bertanya, sambil mengangkat keningnya, “sekiranya Perdana Menteri membelanjakan wang rakyat untuk membina sebuah kolam renang untuk keluarganya?”

Pada tahun 1979, dalam Perhimpunan Agung UMNO, Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Hussein Onn, memberikan amaran yang Malaysia akan musnah sekiranya pemimpinnya “tidak jujur, tidak boleh dipercayai, dan korup” dan menyatakan harapan supaya skandal Bank Rakyat yang melibatkan RM100 juta ketika itu akan menjadi “pengajaran pahit kepada institusi dan agensi kerajaan yang lain, termasuklah syarikat dan anak syarikat yang dibentuk oleh kerajaan”.

Adakah Najib telah lupa dengan legasi tiga Perdana Menteri terawal negara – Tunku Abdul Rahman yang mahu Malaysia menjadi “tempat penuh keamanan, harmoni, dan kesejahteraan” dan “sinar cahaya dalam dunia yang sukar dan terganggu”; Tun Razak dengan pengajarannya tentang kolam renang; dan amaran Tun Hussein Onn yang Malaysia akan dimusnahkan oleh pemimpin yang “tidak jujur, tidak boleh dipercayai, dan korup” yang mewujudkan skandal kewangan 1MDB yang bernilai berbillion dolar bersama dengan Jho Low?

Menteri Kewangan, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz memberitahu Parlimen semalam yang hutang 1MDB masih berbaki RM32.08 billion setakat 30 Jun.

Di antara April 2017 sehingga Mei 2022, kerajaan telah menyalurkan bantuan kewangan dalam bentuk pinjaman dan bayaran pendahuluan yang berjumlah sebanyak RM10.85 billion melalui Kementerian Kewangan dan Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) untuk membayar komitmen hutang dan faedah 1MDB.

Saya tidak tahu apa-apa mengenai tuduhan “konflik kepentingan” Najib terhadap hakim yang memenjarakannya selama 12 tahun dan mengenakan denda sebanyak RM210 juta dalam perbicaraan korupsi 1MDB pertamanya, tetapi isu “konflik kepentingan” hakim yang dibangkitkan oleh Najib ini, jika ada, tidak menyentuh isu korupsi Najib dalam 1MDB yang telah menyebabkannya dipenjara selama 12 tahun dengan denda sebanyak RM210 juta.

Sehingga hari ini, Najib masih mengambil kedudukan untuk mengatakan yang tidak ada skandal 1MDB dan kemudiannya mewujudkan kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” yang diasaskan kepada idea bahawa skandal 1MDB ini hanyalah rekaan semata-mata.

Begitulah kuatnya delusi Najib ini, kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” dan UMNO hanya boleh ditewaskan dengan Najib mengakui sendiri mengenai korupsi 1MDB ini.

Saya tahu, memang sangat tipis kemungkinannya untuk Najib menggalas tanggungjawab patriotiknya dan mengecam rasuah dalam skandal 1MDB untuk melumpuhkan bukan sahaja kempen “Malu Apa Bossku” yang pada masa yang sama juga mampu untuk meningkatkan kesedaran anti-rasuah dan membawa kepada peningkatan kedudukan negara dalam TI CPI, tetapi adakah Thayarapan mempunyai apa-apa cadangan yang lebih baik?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 22 Julai 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 22 July 2022, 6:16 am and is filed under
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Does Azam’s criticism of TI CPI meant that MACC now  does not support the National Integrity Plan target for Malaysia to be among the top 30 countries in public integrity with the  least corruption?

Does the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),  Azam Baki’s criticism of Transparency International (TI)’s annual  Corruption Perception Index (CPI)  meant that MACC now does not support the National Integrity Plan target for Malaysia be to be among the top 30 countries in the world in public integrity  with the least corruption?

Under the fifth Malaysian premiership of Tun Abdullah Badawi, the National Integrity Plan 2013-2018 was formulated which targeted that Malaysia’s score of 5.2 in the year 2003 will be improved to at least 6.5 by 2008 (10 being the best and 1.0 being worst), as well as improving the ranking of Malaysia from 37th in 2013 to at least 30th position in 2018.

Instead of “at least 30th position” in the TI CPI, we are now No. 62 in TI CPI 2021 and will be worse in the CPI 2022 when it is announced on January 2023.

Is this the reason for Azam criticising the TI CPI series, as he has become the head of the country’s anti-corruption agency (whether MACC since  2010 or its predecessor, the Anti-Corruption Agency) who is presiding over two years with the worst TI CPI?

Malaysia needs a new MACC Chief Commissioner who has two important KPIs –  firstly, to ensure that Malaysia will not continue to fall in the TI CPI but will improve from the 62nd position in the TI CPI 2021 if not achieving 30th position in the NIP; and secondly, to ensure that China and Indonesia do not overtake Malaysia in TI CPI whether before the end of this decade or before Malaysia’s Centennial.

The tragedy in the country’s anti-corruption campaign is that the MACC Chief Commissioner does not inspire Malaysians with confidence that he is the very symbol of public integrity, especially with his  refusal to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee to clear himself of conflict-of-interest and integrity  allegations in the Azam-gate affair.

And Azam dare not say anything about the “Malu Apa BossKu” campaign which is a shame and disgrace to the country.

Would Azam now  volunteer to appear before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Agencies in the Prime Minister’s Department to clear himself of any conflict-of-interest and integrity allegations?

We will wait and see.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, July 23, 2022)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 23 July 2022, 9:35 am and is filed under
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Reply to Terence Netto who cannot see  the moral fog in the land which had produced the “Malu Apa BossKU” phenomenon –  testimony that decades of moral and religious  education had been a failure as Malaysians cannot differentiate right from wrong

Veteran journalist Terence Netto wrote “Kit Siang’s lurch into a moral fog” yet he  cannot see the moral fog in the land which had  produced the  “Malu Apa BossKU” phenomenon – testimony that decades of moral and religious education had been a failure as Malaysians cannot differentiate right from wrong.

Rest assured Terence, there is no lurch into a moral fog  and no moral relativism on my part. Black is black and white is white, but don’t ignore the vast shades of grey.

The three witches at the opening scenes of Shakespeare’s play, Macbeth cried  “Fair is foul and foul is fair/Hover through the fog and filthy air” – a situation we who love Malaysia  must prevent the country  from becoming.

Malaysia has lost her  way in nation-building that we have now Cabinet Ministers who do not accept the basic nation-building principles in our Constitution and the Rukun Negara – whether it be the rule of law, separation of powers, good governance, meritocracy or Malaysia as a plural society.

Recently, a Malaysian Malay leader asked: “Could it be that after being given all sorts of crutches, the effect has been to make the Malays weak and insecure, and most noticeably, lacking in resilience? What has led to this lack of confidence? It seems that when the Malays were facing real challenges, such as fighting for independence, our resilience was so much stronger.

“As ease and comfort and quality of life improved, confidence and resilience abated. These observations call for sincere self-reflection – instead of picking fights with perceived enemies, we should look inwards and try to better ourselves instead of blaming all of our ills on others. We seem to be scared of our own shadows.”

Are we capable of a truly National or Malaysian Narrative, a National Agenda which is not a Malay agenda or a non-Malay agenda but  a Malaysian Agenda that takes into consideration all Malaysians and which  fights poverty and inequality without discrimination, respecting the Constitution.

All is  not lost.

There is the  beginning of  an awareness among Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region that only a Malaysian Agenda can leverage on the values and virtues of the four great civilisations which meet in confluence in Malaysia to make Malaysia a world-class great nation instead of losing out to one nation after another,  as happened in the last half-a-century which sparked  the first Malaysian Diaspora, where over a million of the best and brightest Malaysians emigrated worldwide to make other nations instead of Malaysia world-class and great.

Malaysia is struggling to get out of the trajectory of a kleptocracy and kakistocracy.

Yes,  the “Malu Apa BossKU” phenomenon  flies in the face of efforts to get Malaysia out of the trajectory of  kleptocracy because of the monstrous mega multi-billion dollar 1MDB financial scandal and other scandals, but there are  also signs of Malaysia returning to the basic nation-building principles and policies the nation’s founding fathers have agreed upon like the supremacy of the rule of law.

These conflicts are  best encapsulated in the Azimah judgment in the former Attorney-General Mohamad Apandi’s defamation suit against me.

I have said that the Azimah judgment is a must-read for all  prospective Attorney-Generals but I want to correct myself, as it is a must-read for all Malaysians who still believe and hope in Malaysia, who despair but do not give up their aspirations that Malaysia can be a  better place for our children and children’s children, rejecting corruption,  abuses of power and discrimination by returning  to the founding nation-building principles and policies of Malaysia.

I am last person to want to compete with “Malu Apa BossKu” movement to  “launder” Najib’s reputation.

I will want Najib to serve his jail sentence as handed down by the courts as an example to all Malaysian leaders to stay far away from corruption and kleptocracy.

But despite the slim chances, if  Najib  could not only  condemn the 1MDB scandal and deplore Malaysia being turned into a kleptocracy, but to declare that the “Malu Apa BossKu” movement  is a new infamy for Malaysia, would Terence Netto  agree that this will be a worthwhile effort?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 24th July 2022)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 24 July 2022, 3:45 pm and is filed under
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What is Najib’s response in the Azimah judgement in the Apandi case that there is no evidence of the “fabled and fantastic” RM2.6 billion donation  from Saudi royalty?

Malaysia has again made dubious history where a former Attorney-General was torn to pieces by the Judiciary as a liar and without credibility on his role as top legal officer of the land.

I have read High Court judge, Justice Azimah binti Omar’s
100-page judgment
 in the defamation case Mohamad Apandi bin Ali vs Lim Kit Siang, which was made public on Friday.

It is a must-reading for all prospective Attorney-Generals for the judgment read like an indictment of Apandi’s failures as Attorney-General for some three years under the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak.

The questions posed by Justice Azimah should be answered by Apandi immediately, as they are public interest questions which all Malaysians want to know and not merely legal issues between Apandi and me.

Justice Azimah said Apandi’s “actions and inactions (during his tenure as Attorney-General) indubitably give rise to a plethora of harrowing suspicions and questions” which did not “appear out of thin air” but arose from Apandi’s “actions and inactions, directly or indirectly” which “may be seen to have assisted in the cover-up of the 1MDB scandal and the personalities involved in the same scandal”.

Paragraph 136 to 139 of the Azimah judgement sum up these “suspicions and questions”, viz:

“136. Through the entire breadth of the Plaintiff’s (Apandi) testimony, the Plaintiff has failed to give any cogent reasons behind his perplexing insistence to adopt the donation narrative (while absolving Najib Razak) although he readily admitted that his Riyadh delegation has utterly failed in its mission to verify the truth behind the fabled and fantastical donation. The Plaintiff further failed to afford any sound justification behind his puzzling decision to bend the truth regarding the supposed success of the Riyadh delegation (while in truth and reality, the Riyadh delegation had failed to speak or even meet with the fabled donor).

“ 137. The Plaintiff also failed to explain his glaring lack of proper knowledge behind the supposed evidences and statements the Riyadh delegation collected, to the extent that the Plaintiff could not even remember the name of the fabled or the famous donor he so intently contended upon.

“138. The Plaintiff further failed to make any good sense out of his unwavering and unyielding insistence to not offer to seek mutual legal assistance from the Swiss government and the United States DOJ although admitting that mutual legal assistance may well bolster local investigations especially in view of tracing the monies which were siphoned out of the Malaysian jurisdiction.

“139. the Plaintiff then failed to explain his eager adoption of the donation narrative although he kne w full well that part of the monies (SRC monies) were paid from SRC’s accounts and not from any Saudi Royalty’s accounts. The Plaintiff further failed to explain his hasty decision to NFA/KUS the investigation (against the recommendations of the MACC and his own internal task force) although knowing full well that his own Riyadh delegation’s investigations were incomplete.” (NFA/KU stands for “No Further Action” and “Kemas untuk Simpan”)

But the importance of the Azimah judgement goes beyond the former Attorney-General as it has completely demolished Najib’s narrative that the RM2.6 billion donation in the 1MDB scandal was from the former King of Saudi Arabia.

The Azimah judgement referred to the “first obvious untruth” in Apandi’s Press Conference Statement of 26.1.2016, where Apandi “brazenly and confidently announced” that his own delegation had flown to Riyadh and personally met the alleged donor himself and recorded the donor’s own personal confirmation of the donation.

This was a lie as Apandi testified on cross-examination that his delegation did not even meet nor speak to the alleged donor!

What is Najib’s response in the Azimah judgement in the Apandi case that there is no evidence of the “fabled and fantastic” RM2.6 billion donation from Saudi royalty?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 24th July 2022)

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Azimah judgement in Apandi defamation case demands a Constitutional Amendment to make the Attorney-General accountable and responsible for his decisions  if one-quarter of MPs demands  a substantive motion to review his decision In Parliament

The Azimah Omar judgement in the Mohamed Apandi defamation suit against me showed that we have in Apandi the worst Attorney-General in Malaysian history and the need for a Constitutional amendment to make the Attorney-General accountable and responsible for his decisions if one quarter of Members of Parliament demands in a substantive motion to review his decision in Parliament.

For this to become a reality, both the Constitution and the Dewan Rakyat Standing Orders have to be amended.

The meaning of the “non-justiciable” and “non-reviewable” authority of the Attorney-General under Article 145 of the Constitution or to use her exact words, “his perplexing refusal to prosecute Najib Razak and his refusal to seek mutual legal assistance from international agencies to investigate the 1MDB scandal under Section 8(2) of the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002”, was considered in the Azimah judgement.

This is what Justice Azimah said in her judgement:

“52. This stance was fervently contended to the extent as if the Plaintiff (Apandi) insists that nobody may scrutinize or question his actions and prerogatives during his tenure as the Attorney-General. And the Plaintiff placed avid reliance on Hanipah Binti Farikullah J’s (now JCA) decision in Bar Malaysia v Peguam Negara Malaysia & Anor [2016] MLJU 1597 which was affirmed by the Court of Appeal and even the Federal Court.

“53. Nonetheless, this Court must highlight that the Plaintiff’s reliance on this case is sorely misplaced. Of course it is not this Court’s intention to challenge or override this decision, but it is absolutely pertinent for this Court not to lose sight of two facts. The first fact being that the Judicial Review was decided on a technicality and was never decided on its merits. Thus, the legality or correctness of the Plaintiff’s refusal to seek mutual legal assistance and refusal to prosecute Najib Razak was never tested and never tried. This is obvious from the reported decision itself.

“Based on the above reasons in my view, strong reasons exist for this Court to dismiss the Applicants’ application at this preliminary stage without proceeding to the hearing of the substantive issue.”

“54. The 2nd fact being, the non-justiciability or non-reviewability of the Plaintiff’s prerogatives is by no means any bar or restraint against public scrutiny, dialogue, investigation, or commentary. There is no nexus whatsoever between the people’s right to criticise or question the Plaintiff’s prerogatives and the non-justiciability or non-reviewability of the Plaintiff’s prerogatives in Court. The Plaintiff by all means cannot fashion this decision as suit and armour to reign supreme and to act with impunity.

“55. Even if the Attorney-General’s prerogatives are non-justiciable and nonreviewable in Court, it does not at all mean that those prerogatives cannot be scrutinized in the public sphere. Of course, no Attorney-General ought to be judicially enforced to act in any manner, but nevertheless, the manner in which he so exercises the same prerogatives and discretion shall remain open to be questioned and be criticised. If not then the Attorney-General’s power would be absolute, and elementary jurisprudence already tells that absolute power can corrupt absolutely.

“56. Thus, since the Court here is not moved, and in fact cannot be moved to review and force the Attorney-General to exercise his discretions, therefore, it still remains within this Court’s discretion to consider facts and evidences to deliberate on the Plaintiff’s actions and inactions, at the very least to determine the fairness, truth and justifiability of the Defendant’s impugned Statement.”

I said earlier that Mohamed Apandi is the worst Attorney-General in the history of Malaysia. This could be seen from the Azimah judgment, in particular over three matters:

Apandi’s “perplexingly magnanimous decision to absolve and exonerate Najib Razak and to prefer the fantastical narrative of an unproven donation”;

Apandi’s “audacity to close investigations (NFA/KUS) although not having properly confirming any actual particulars and evidence of the fantastical donation by the unnamed Saudi Royalty, and while being aware that RM42 million was transferred into Najib Razak’s personal account from SRC’s account”; and

Apandi’s “baffling refusal either to accept or offer mutual legal assistance from the Swiss Attorney-General and the United States Department of Justice to investigate the 1MDB scandal (to trace monies siphoned out of the Malaysian jurisdiction)?”

Is Apandi capable of defending himself from the charge of being the worst Attorney-General in Malaysian history?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Monday, 25th July 2021)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 25 July 2022, 11:15 am and is filed under
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One consequence of the Azimah judgement is that Apandi should refund the millions he had extracted from the government to settle his  lawsuit against the government for terminating his AG contract  as he had failed the country as the worst AG in the nation’s history

I said yesterday that the Azimah judgement in Mohamed Apandi’s defamation suit against me has shown that Apandi  is the worst Attorney-General in the nation’s history, as up till today, he has  failed to account for his  multiple failures,  like his failure  to explain why:

·         he absolved and exonerated Najib Razak in the 1MDB scandal;

·         he accepted the “fantastical” donation narrative without evidence;

·         he closed investigations  on the 1MDB  scandal against advice of MACC and his own internal task force;

·        he refused either to accept or offer mutual legal assistance from the Swiss Attorney-General and the US Department of Justice to investigate the 1MDB scandal.

I also asked whether Apandi  was capable of defending himself from the charge of being the worst Attorney-General in Malaysian history, but there was only thunderous silence on Apandi’s part in the past 24 hours.

One consequence of the Azimah judgement is that Apandi should refund the millions he had extracted from the government to settle his  lawsuit against the government for terminating his  AG contract as he had failed the country as the worst AG in the nation’s history.

On October 13, 2020, Apandi filed the lawsuit against Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the federal government, seeking for court declarations that his dismissal as attorney general was unlawful and not in compliance with the Federal Constitution.

In the lawsuit, Apandi had also sought for general damages, exemplary or punitive damages, as well as RM2,233,599.36 in special damages.

In detailing the particulars of the special damages of over RM2.23 million that he was seeking, Apandi had listed these as including loss of remuneration totalling RM1,285,213.68 from July 27, 2018 to July 26, 2021 (or RM35,700.38 in monthly remuneration over 36 months or three years).

Apandi had previously served as a Federal Court judge, and was appointed as attorney general for a three-year term from July 27, 2015 to July 26, 2018.

In his lawsuit,  Apandi said the chief secretary of the government had in an April 6, 2018 letter informed him that the Agong had on March 3, 2018 consented to his appointment as attorney general again from July 27, 2018 onwards.

Apandi had also said he had accepted his reappointment as AG through a May 7, 2018 letter sent to the chief secretary of the government, but said his service as AG was later cut short after Dr Mahathir became prime minister from May 10, 2018.

Apandi had claimed that Dr Mahathir had instructed the chief secretary of the government to convey the instructions for Apandi to take a 30-day unrecorded leave from May 14, 2018 until June 14, 2018, and that the chief secretary of the government had in a June 5, 2018 letter notified him that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong had consented to the termination of his appointment as the attorney general.

The government, in its defence, said any decision to terminate the contract was  carried out according to the law and that Mahathir did not play any role in the termination of Apandi’s contract.

But five days before the hearing of the case on 18th April 2022, the government and Apandi reached a settlement without the knowledge or consent of Mahathir.

As pointed out by P. Ramakrishnan of Aliran, it was most  improper for the present Attorney-General to settle  Apandi’s suit, and for the terms of the settlement to be kept secret from  the taxpayers.

Horror of horrors, Apandi had not only failed to explain why he absolved and exonerated Najib Razak in the 1MDB scandal when he was Attorney-General, he recently acted for one of the two creators of the  1MDB scandal, Jho Low, who wanted to reach a settlement with the government over the 1MDB charges against him with a RM1.5 billion offer.

It is to be noted that for the past decade of the 1MDB scandal,  Najib had never condemned Jho Low for the 1MDB scandal.  Can Najib explain why?

Can Apandi explain the  legal, ethical  and monetary basis for his acting for  Jho Loh after he had “absolved and exonerated” Najib of the 1MDB scandal?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on  Tuesday, July  26, 2022)

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Ministerial question on Apandi’s settlement of his suit against government

On Monday, I asked whether former Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi was capable of defending himself against the charge of being the worst Attorney-General in Malaysian history.

Yesterday, I asked whether he would return the millions of ringgit he had extracted from the government in settlement of his lawsuit which he had instituted against the government for sacking him as Attorney-General, and asked him to explain the “legal, ethical  and monetary basis” for acting as lawyer for Jho Loh, one of the key culprits responsible for the monstrous mega multi-billion dollar 1MDB financial scandal.

There was no answer from Apandi, only thunderous Apandi silence since the 100-page Azimah judgment on his defamation case against me was made public last Thursday.

I have given notice to ask the Prime Minister a Ministerial question tomorrow, asking for details of the settlement of the suit the former Attorney-General  Mohamed Apandi had made against the government and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for his dismissal as Attorney-General in May 2018, and whether it was proper for Mohamad Apandi to  act as  the lawyer representing Jho Low over the 1MDB scandal.

Apandi’s sued the Government for  wrongful dismissal, alleging that he was entitled to special damages of over RM2.23 million including  loss of remuneration totalling RM1,285,213.68 from July 27, 2018 to July 26, 2021 (or RM35,700.38 in monthly remuneration over 36 months or three years) as Attorney-General.

Were Malaysian taxpayers paying for two Attorney-Generals from July 2018 to July 2021?

Under these circumstances, was it right, proper and ethical for Apandi to act for Jho Loh of the 1MDB scandal infamy?

I hope there will be some answer in Parliament tomorrow.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday 27th July 2022)

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Security Parliamentary Select Committee should investigate into the detention of  12 persons  for alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2019 to establish whether it was a security or political  operation

Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s speech during the SOSMA debate in Parliament yesterday again brought to the forefront the detention of 12 persons, including two DAP  State Assemblymen one in  Negri Sembilan and the other in Malacca, for alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2019.

More than two years have passed since the release of the 12 persons detained for alleged links to LTTE.

For more than two years, there  had been no incident to justify the existence of any LTTE network in the country, casting  doubt on the veracity of the charges against the 12 persons in 2019.

The Security Parliamentary Select Committee, chaired by the PKR MP for Sungai Patani, Johari Abdul, should investigate into the detention of the 12 persons for alleged links with the LTTE to establish whether it was a security or a political operation.

The Parliamentary Select Committee should hold hearings to investigate into the matter because of the premier role played by Muhyiddin, who was then the Home Minister, in the subsequent Sheraton Move conspiracy which toppled Pakatan Harapan government and Muhyiddin replaced Mahathir Mohamad as Prime Minister.

Investigation by the Security Parliamentary Select Committee is imperative now that Parliament had voted to extend SOSMA for another  five years and Parliament must ensure that there had been no abuse of power in SOSMA implementation in the past.

The Security Parliamentary Select Committee should also hold hearings to investigate into the detention of  the then Bersih Chairperson, Maria Chin Abdullah (now PKR MP for Petaling Jaya) in 2016 and  detentions of activist Khairuddin Hassan and his lawyer  Matthias Chang for their attempts to expose the 1MDB financial scandal, and to establish whether these SOSMA detentions were abuses of power.

The members of the Security Parliamentary Select Committee are Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak), Ramli Mohd Nor (Cameron Highlands), Rahim Bakri (Kudat), Wilson Ugak Anak Kumbong (Hulu Rajang), Syed Ibrahim Syed Nor (Ledang), Lim Lip Eng (Kepong) and Mohamad Sabu (Kota Raja).

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Wednesday, 27th July 2022)

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Parliament should hold public hearings to determine how the 13th Parliament  was prevented from exposing  the 1MDB financial scandal and to ensure that Parliament will never be abused again to cover up financial scandals

(Versi BM)

On Monday, I asked whether former Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi was capable of defending himself against the charge of being the worst Attorney-General in Malaysian history.

On Tuesday, I asked whether he would return the millions of ringgit he had extracted from the government in settlement of his lawsuit which he had instituted against the government for sacking him as Attorney-General, and asked him to explain the “legal, ethical and monetary basis” for acting as lawyer for Jho Loh, one of the key culprits responsible for the monstrous mega multi-billion dollar 1MDB financial scandal.

On Wednesday, I gave notice to ask the Prime Minister a Ministerial question on Thursday, asking for details of the settlement of the suit the former Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi had made against the government and Dr. Mahathir Mohamad for his dismissal as Attorney-General in May 2018, and whether it was proper for Mohamad Apandi to act as the lawyer representing Jho Low over the 1MDB scandal.

This question was not accepted for the three Ministerial questions slated for answer today as it does not appear in today’s Order Paper.

Although the question would not appear in Parliament today, Apandi has a public responsibility as the former Attorney-General to give answers.

Apandi had sued the Government for wrongful dismissal, alleging that he was entitled to special damages of over RM2.23 million including loss of remuneration totalling RM1,285,213.68 from July 27, 2018 to July 26, 2021 (or RM35,700.38 in monthly remuneration over 36 months or three years) as Attorney-General.

Were Malaysian taxpayers paying for two Attorney-Generals from July 2018 to July 2021 – one AG in office and another AG out of office?

It is a week since the 100-page judgement of Justice Azimah Omar in Apandi’s defamation suit against me was made public last Thursday, and Apandi has failed to answer the four questions highlighted by the Azimah judgment at the defamation hearing. In fact, Apandi failed to answer these questions for the last two months since the judgement was announced on 23rd May 2022.

The four questions which Apandi failed to explain, as highlighted by the Azimah judgement, were his failure to explain why;

· he (Apandi, when he was Attorney-General) absolved and exonerated Najib Razak in the 1MDB scandal;

· he accepted the “fantastical” donation narrative without evidence;

· he closed investigations on the 1MDB scandal against advice of MACC and his own internal task force;

· he refused either to accept or offer mutual legal assistance from the Swiss Attorney-General and the US Department of Justice to investigate the 1MDB scandal.

When Apandi was the Attorney-General for 33 months from the Night of Long Knives in July 2015 when Gani Patail was sacked as Attorney-General because he wanted to charge Najib Razak for the 1MDB scandal, to the political miracle of the 14th General Election on 9th May 2018, Apandi played a critical role to cover up the 1MDB scandal.

During 2016 and 2017, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) commenced thirty related civil forfeiture cases against a wide variety of real and personal property derived from the billions of dollars of ill-gotten gains of 1MDB scandal, but Apandi did nothing.

Can Apandi explain why?

Apandi showed no interest in finding out who was “ Malaysian Official 1”, although in he was described in the DoJ litigation suits in July 2016 as “a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB” nor was Apandi the least interested when the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Abdul Rahman Dahlan admitted to the BBC on 1st September 2016 that “MO1” was Najib Razak.

Did Apandi ever ask Najib whether he was “MO1”? Or did every knowledgeable Malaysian knew that “MO1” was Najib except Apandi?

But it is not only the Attorney-General who must answer for his role in covering up the 1MDB scandal, the 13th Parliament was prevented from exposing the 1MDB scandal and became a party to the “cover-up” of the “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal because of a very biased Speaker.

Parliament should hold public hearings to determine how the 13th Parliament was prevented from exposing the 1MDB financial scandal – the “kleptocracy at its worst” scandal – and the role of the Speaker of the 13th Parliament, Pandikar Mulia Amin, and to ensure that Parliament will never be abused again to cover up financial scandals in Malaysia.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Parliament on Thursday 28th July 2022)

Parlimen perlu mengadakan pendengaran awam untuk menentukan bagaimana Parlimen ke-13 sebelum ini disekat daripada mendedahkan skandal kewangan 1MDB untuk memastikan Parlimen tidak akan disalahguna lagi untuk menutup sebarang skandal kewangan

Pada hari Isnin, saya telah bertanya sama ada bekas Peguam Negara, Mohamed Apandi, bersedia untuk mempertahankan dirinya melawan dakwaan sebagai Peguam Negara terburuk dalam sejarah Malaysia.

Pada hari Selasa, saya bertanya sama ada dia akan memulangkan semula jutaan ringgit yang diterimanya dari kerajaan sebagai penyelesaian samannya terhadap kerajaan yang telah memecatnya dari jawatan Peguam Negara, dan saya minta dia menjelaskan “asas undang-undang, etika, dan kewangan” untuk bertindak sebagai peguam bagi Jho Low, yang merupakan salah seorang yang bertanggungjawab ke atas skandal mega 1MDB.

Soalan ini tidak diterima sebagai salah satu dari tiga soalan waktu jawapan Menteri yang bakal dijawab hari ini memandangkan ia tidak muncul dalam Aturan Urusan Mesyuarat.

Walaupun soalan ini tidak muncul di Parlimen pada hari ini, Apandi mempunyai tanggungjawab sebagai bekas Peguam Negara untuk memberikan jawapan.

Apandi telah menyaman kerajaan atas alasan pemecatan yang salah, menuduh yang dia berhak menerima pampasan khas melebihi RM2.23 juta termasuklah kehilangan pendapatan sebanyak RM1,285,,213.68 dari 27 Julai 2018 sehingga 26 Julai 2021 (atau RM35,700,38 pendapatan setiap bulan untuk 36 bulan) sebagai Peguam Negara.

Adakah rakyat Malaysia telah membayar gaji untuk dua orang Peguam Negara di antara tempoh Julai 2018 sehingga Julai 2021 – satu untuk Peguam Negara yang menjawat manakala satu lagi gaji untuk seorang bekas Peguam Negara?

Seminggu telah berlalu sejak daripada penghakiman 100 muka surat oleh Hakim Azimah Omar mengenai saman malu Apandi terhadap saya diterbitkan pada hari Khamis minggu lepas, dan Apandi gagal untuk menjawab empat persoalan yang ditekankan dalam penghakiman Azimah ini. Malah, Apandi gagal menjadi ketiga-tiga persoalan ini dalam dua bulan yang lepas sejak keputusan ini diumumkan pada 23 Mei 2022.

Empat persoalan yang gagal dijelaskan Apandi, seperti yang ditekankan oleh penghakiman Azimah, adalah mengapa:

– dia (Apandi, semasa menjadi Peguam Negara) membebaskan Najib Razak dari skandal 1MDB;

– dia menerima naratif derma yang “luar biasa” tanpa bukti;

– dia menutup penyiasatan ke atas skandal 1MDB, bertentangan dengan nasihat dari SPRM dan pasukan tindakannya sendiri;

– dia menolak untuk menerima atau menawarkan bantuan perundangan daripada Peguam Negara Switzerland dan Jabatan Keadilan AS untuk menyiasat skandal 1MDB.

Semasa Apandi menjadi Peguam Negara selama 33 bulan – dari Julai 2015, di mana Gani Patail dipecat sebagai Peguam Negara kerana dia ingin mendakwa Najib Razak dengan skandal 1MDB, sehingga kepada keajaiban politik Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 pada 9 Mei 2018 – Apandi telah memainkan peranan kritikal untuk menutup skandal 1MDB.

Pada tahun 2016 dan 2017, Jabatan Keadilan Amerika Syarikat (DoJ) memulakan tiga puluh kes rampasan sivil terhadap pelbagai bentuk harta peribadi dan hartanah yang bersumberkan hasil haram berbillion dolar dari skandal 1MDB, tetapi Apandi memilih untuk tidak berbuat apa-apa.

Bolehkah Apandi menjelaskan mengapa?

Apandi langsung tidak menunjukkan minat untuk mencari siapakah “Malaysian Official 1”, walaupun dia telah digambarkan dalam saman DoJ pada bulan Julai 2016 sebagai “seorang pegawai kanan kerajaan Malaysia yang juga memegang kedudukan berkuasa di dalam 1MDB”, dia juga tidak berminat untuk menyiasat apabila Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri ketika itu, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, mengakui di BBC pada 1 September 2016 yang “MO1” adalah Najib Razak.

Adakah Apandi pernah bertanya kepada Najib sama ada dia adalah “MO1”? Atau adakah hanya semua rakyat Malaysia selain daripada Apandi sahaja yang tahu yang “MO1” adalah Najib?

Namun, bukan Peguam Negara sahaja yang perlu menjawab untuk peranan menutup pendedahan skandal 1MDB ini, Parlimen ke-13 juga telah disekat dari mendedahkan skandal 1MDB dan terlibat untuk menutup “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk” ini kerana adanya seorang Speaker yang amat berat sebelah.

Parlimen perlu mengadakan pendengaran awam untuk menentukan bagaimana Parlimen ke-13 sebelum ini disekat dari mendedahkan skandal kewangan 1MDB – skandal “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang paling buruk” – dan peranan Speaker Parlimen ke-13, Pandikar Amin Mulia, untuk memastikan Parlimen tidak akan lagi disalahgunakan untuk menyembunyikan apa-apa skandal kewangan di Malaysia.

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Parlimen pada hari Khamis 28 Julai 2022)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 28 July 2022, 7:55 am and is filed under
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Can Zaid Ibrahim influence a single person to change his or her mind that Najib is not  guilty of corruption in the monstrous mega multi-billion dollar  1MDB scandal?

(Versi BM)

I am surprised by Zaid Ibrahim’s new line of thinking but could he influence a single person to change his or her mind that Najib Razak is not guilty of corruption in the monstrous mega multi-billion dollar 1MDB scandal?

I am surprised by Zaid’s change of stand especially as it came after the widely-reported 100-page Azimah judgement in former Attorney-General Mohamad Apandi’s defamation suit against me was made public last week.

Forefront in my mind is the question how Zaid Ibrahim, a former Cabinet Minister, could change his mind on Najib and the 1MDB scandal after reading the Azimah judgement? Or had he not read the Azimah judgement yet.

In his FaceBook, Zaid said:

“Now, I am convinced Najib was lied to. Not only by Jho Low but also by his officers. He was misled by his officers in 1MDB and lied to by Goldman Sachs and Aabar Investments in Abu Dhabi.

“So the loss of billions of ringgit, in my opinion, was not because of Najib’s fault or in other words, he was not the one who planned it.”

Did Najib tell Zaid all this as well as the version that he as the Prime Minister was not the mastermind of the 1MDB scandal, and if not, how could Zaid come to such a conclusion?

One of the most salient points in the 1MDB scandal which had been in the public domain for a decade is that Najib had never condemned Jho Low or anybody else for the 1MDB scandal.

For that matter, the leaders of UMNO and the Barisan Nasional have never condemned the 1MDB scandal although a former United States Attorney-General had described it as “kleptocracy at its worst”.

Can Najib and the leaders of UMNO and the Barisan Nasional, present and the past going back to the Najib premiership, explain why they had never condemned the 1MDB scandal, although it was the cause for the whole world to regard Malaysia as a kleptocracy?

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 29th July 2022)

Bolehkah Zaid Ibrahim mempengaruhi sekurang-kurangnya seorang untuk bertukar fikiran yang Najib tidak bersalah dalam skandal mega 1MDB?

Saya terkejut dengan pemikiran baharu Zaid Ibrahim tetapi bolehkah dia mempengaruhi sekurang-kurangnya seorang untuk menukar fikiran mereka untuk percaya yang Najib Razak tidak bersalah dalam skandal mega 1MDB yang melibatkan berbillion dolar?

Saya amat terkejut dengan perubahan pendirian Zaid, terutamanya selepas penerbitan lebih daripada 100 muka surat penghakiman Azimah mengenai kes saman bekas Peguam Negara, Mohamad Apandi terhadap saya pada minggu lepas.

Perkara pertama yang terlintas di fikiran saya adalah bagaimana Zaid Ibrahim, seorang bekas Menteri Kabinet, boleh berubah fikirannya mengenai Najib dan skandal 1MDB selepas membaca penghakiman Azimah ini? Atau adakah dia belum membaca penghakiman ini?

Di laman Facebooknya, Zaid mengatakan:

“Kini saya yakin yang Najib ditipu. Bukan sahaja oleh Jho Low tetapi juga oleh pegawainya. Dia dikelirukan oleh pegawai-pegawainya dalam 1MDB dan ditipu oleh Goldman Sachs dan Aabar Investments di Abu Dhabi.

“Jadi kerugian berbillion ringgit ini, pada pendapat saya, bukanlah kerana salah Najib, atau dalam kata lain, dia bukanlah yang merancangnya.”

Adakah Najib yang memberitahu Zaid mengenai semua perkara ini, termasuklah juga versi di mana dia sebagai Perdana Menteri tidak merancang skandal 1MDB dan jika bukan, bagaimanakah Zaid mencapai kepada kesimpulan sebegini?

Salah satu perkara terpenting dalam skandal 1MDB yang telah diketahui umum selama lebih daripada satu dekad adalah Najib tidak pernah mengecam Jho Low atau sesiapa pun mengenai skandal 1MDB ini.

Malah, tidak ada mana-mana pemimpin UMNO atau Barisan Nasional yang telah mengecam skandal 1MDB ini walaupun bekas Peguam Negara Amerika Syarikat telah menggambar skandal ini sebagai “kleptokrasi dalam bentuk yang terburuk”.

Bolehkah Najib dan para pemimpin UMNO dan Barisan Nasional, yang ada sekarang dan yang sebelum ini dalam pemerintahan Najib, menjelaskan mengapa mereka tidak pernah mengutuk skandal 1MDB, walaupun skandal ini telah menyebabkan seluruh dunia melihat Malaysia sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi?

(Kenyataan Media (2) Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 29 Julai 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 29 July 2022, 3:00 pm and is filed under
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History was made yesterday in Parliament in passing the constitutional amendment against party-hopping, but it is only the beginning of a reset of nation-building policies and principles if Malaysia is to achieve her  potential as a world-class great nation

(Versi BM)

History was made yesterday in Parliament in passing the constitutional amendment against party-hopping, but it is only the beginning of a reset of nation-building policies and principles if Malaysia is to achieve her potential as a world-class great nation.

Malaysians should ponder two question about the constitutional amendment passed by Dewan Rakyat with 209 votes in favour, none against with 11 MPs absent, viz:

Firstly, why such history could only be made under Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri, and not in the last 44 years when I first made such a proposal in Parliament in 1978;

Secondly, whether the history made by Parliament yesterday could be the beginning of a reset of nation-building policies and principles for Malaysia to achieve her potential as a world-class great nation.

The first three Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein would have been shocked that the nation had deviated from the founding nation-building principles to the extent that there are Ministers in the Cabinet who do not accept the Rukun Negara principles and there are leaders who are proud that Malaysia is notorious in the world as a kleptocracy.

Will the Prime Minister spearhead a movement for Malaysia to be a world-class great nation by returning to the nation-building principles our founding fathers have agreed in the Malaysian Constitution and Rukun Negara – constitutional monarchy, parliamentary democracy, separation of powers, rule of law, good governance, public integrity, meritocracy, respect for human rights and national unity from our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural diversity where there are no first-class and second-class citizens whether based on race, religion or region?

In the past half-a-century, Malaysia lost out to Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Will we lose out China and Indonesia before the end of this decade in the annual Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI)?

Will we lose out to more countries in economic development, even to Indonesia and the Philippines, come 2,040 or 2,050? To become a Sri Lanka in future will be Malaysia’s nightmare.

Can the “history” Parliament made yesterday marked the beginning of a reset of Malaysia’s fortunes to achieve our potential to be a word-class great nation?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, 29th July 2022)

Sejarah tercipta semalam di Parlimen dengan kelulusan pindaan perlembagaan untuk menyekat aktiviti lompat parti, namun perkara ini hanyalah satu permulaan dalam usaha menetapkan semula dasar dan prinsip pembinaan negara sekiranya kita mahu Malaysia untuk mencapai potensinya sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia

Sejarah telah tercipta semalam di Parlimen dengan kelulusan pindaan perlembagaan untuk menyekat aktiviti lompat parti, namun perkara ini hanyalah satu permulaan dalam usaha menetapkan semula dasar dan prinsip pembinaan negara sekiranya kita mahu Malaysia untuk mencapai potensinya sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Rakyat Malaysia perlu berfikirkan dua persoalan mengenai pindaan perlembagaan yang diluluskan Dewan Rakyat dengan 209 undi yang bersetuju tanpa sebarang bantahan dan dengan 11 orang Ahli Parlimen tidak hadir, iaitu:

Pertamanya, mengapa perkara ini hanya berjaya dibuat di bawah pimpinan Perdana Menteri Ismail Sabri dan bukannya sepanjang 44 tahun yang lepas selepas saya buat pertama kali cadangkan perkara ini di Parlimen pada tahun 1978;

Kedua, sama ada sejarah yang dicatatkan semalam ini adalah permulaan kepada usaha menetapkan semula dasar dan prinsip pembinaan negara untuk membolehkan Malaysia mencapai potensinya sebagai sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia.

Tiga orang Perdana Menteri terawal negara, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, dan Tun Hussein pastinya akan terkejut melihat negara kita telah terpesong dari prinsip pembinaan negara sehingga terdapat Menteri di dalam Kabinet yang tidak menerima prinsip-prinsip Rukun Negara dan terdapat pemimpin yang berbangga apabila Malaysia terkenal sebagai sebuah kleptokrasi.

Adakah Perdana Menteri akan memimpin pergerakan untuk Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia dengan kembali semula kepada prinsip-prinsip pembinaan negara yang telah dipersetujui oleh tokoh-tokoh penubuhan negara di dalam Perlembagaan dan Rukun Negara – Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara beraja berperlembagaan, dengan demokrasi berparlimen, pemisahan kuasa, kedaulatan undang-undang, integriti awam, meritokrasi, hormat kepada hak asasi manusia, dan perpaduan dari masyarakat majmuk pelbagai kaum, bahasa, agama, dan budaya di mana tidak ada perbezaan rakyat kelas pertama atau kelas kedua berasaskan kaum, agama, atau kawasan?

Dalam setengah abad yang lepas, kita telah ditinggalkan di belakang Taiwan, Korea Selatan, Singapura, Hong Kong, dan Vietnam.

Adakah kita bakal ditinggalkan di belakang China dan Indonesia sebelum penghujung dekad ini dalam penerbitan tahunan Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) Transparency International?

Adakah kita akan ditinggalkan di belakang lebih banyak negara, mungkin Indonesia dan Filipina dari segi pembangunan ekonomi menjelang 2040 atau 2050? Untuk menjadi satu lagi Sri Lanka adalah mimpi ngeri terburuk Malaysia.

Bolehkah Parlimen “bersejarah” semalam ini menandakan permulaan penetapan semula hala tuju negara untuk membolehkan Malaysia menjadi sebuah negara hebat bertaraf dunia?

(Kenyataan Media Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada hari Jumaat, 29 Julai 2022)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 29 July 2022, 10:27 am and is filed under
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