KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 – Putrajaya needs to answer all the questions raised by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prevent the situation from escalating. Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the views of the statesman should not be ignored because what he raised has received a lot of attention. “As a former prime minister, we have to listen and understand what he wrote. I feel we cannot just ignore it. “Pretending not to be aware of it is not an option. If we ignore this, it will worsen. We need to resolve this.
“What Dr Mahathir raised, we have to answer and although we feel that the answers had been given, we have to answer them again,” he told reporters at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur today. Khairy said that the issues raised by Dr Mahathir, including strategic investment company 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), purchase of a new jet by the government, and even the murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu, must be answered by Putrajaya.
He said Dr Mahathir wanted the questions to be answered by Najib himself to make them more credible. “I think that is what Dr Mahathir wants. We can provide the explanation but from my point of view, the most effective way is when the prime minister himself gives the explanation (so that everyone may understand),” he said. However, Khairy threw his support behind Najib and said he disagreed with Dr Mahathir’s contention that Barisan Nasional would lose in the 14th general election under Najib’s leadership.
“I disagree. I would not give my full support and confidence to the leadership of Najib if we agreed to it. “We are currently undergoing a difficult time because we have just implemented GST (goods and services tax) and we know it will cause dissatisfaction and anger among the people. “But it does not mean we can assume that what we are experiencing today will cause us to lose at the general election under Najib’s leadership.” Dr Mahathir on Thursday listed down in a blog posting various allegations made against Najib and noted that none had been answered adequately.
Dr Mahathir said these included the murder of Altantuya and the claims made by one of her convicted murderers, former police commando Sirul Azhar Umar, who was a former bodyguard of Najib’s. Noting Sirul’s claim that he had been “under orders” to kill Altantuya, Dr Mahathir said such an allegation ought to be investigated because Sirul had worked for Najib. “This is a human life. It would be cruel if Sirul was subjected to the death penalty for carrying out instructions.”
Dr Mahathir also delved into the problems surrounding 1MDB, questioning the need for Putrajaya to give it a standby credit facility of almost RM1billion, the fund’s purchase of government land and its dubious deal with little-known oil company, PetroSaudi International. He then questioned the source of funds for Najib’s stepson, Riza Aziz, to purchase luxury properties in New York through businessman Low Taek Jho.
He also mentioned the new private jet purchased for Najib, describing it as a “waste” since the government already had other jets. “There are many other allegations and questions against 1MDB that was set up by Datuk Seri Najib and which is controlled by him as adviser that have not been answered, other than to deny and call the allegations lies. “The reports in New York and London newspapers are extremely embarrassing for the country,” Dr Mahathir added, referring to foreign media reports on 1MDB and Low.
