PUTRAJAYA, Jan 15 – Opposition parties should stop playing political games and accept the fact that 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) has been successful in its rationalisation efforts, said Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.
Urging them to stop recycling allegations, he claimed that DAP lawmaker Tony Pua had gone on another rampage of recycled allegations and this time on a personal and potentially defamatory attack on 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda, claiming that Arul was covering up for billions in losses.
PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli had also added his voice to the chorus and was repeating stale news and information, said the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister. He said this song and dance show is a desperate attempt by the opposition to keep the 1MDB issue alive when, in reality, it is no longer a critical issue.
He said this in a statement here on Thursday. Abdul Rahman said Pua, the Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament, seemed to have already made up his mind that billions had been stolen from 1MDB despite the fact that the Public Accounts Committee inquiry into 1MDB and the Auditor-General’s special audit on 1MDB were drawing to a close.
He said both the PAC inquiry and the AG Audit report are based on evidence and proof and should be respected as the true source to determine whether billions have been stolen. Abdul Rahman said he had always held the suspicion that the opposition had never wanted 1MDB’s rationalisation to succeed and had taken pains to throw allegations continuously over the last year.
He said his suspicion was reinforced Wednesday when Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng announced that he had instructed the Penang local authorities to block any sale of 1MDB’s RM1.3-billion land, by giving the excuse that 1MDB’s was public money and 1MDB did not have 100 per cent ownership of the land.
“But strangely, the Penang government had no problem approving 1MDB to purchase the very same land in 2013 and collected the various fees from the land transfer but when 1MDB wants to sell the land as part of its rationalisation efforts, Penang has blocked it. To me, this is a clear case of sabotage of 1MDB’s rationalisation efforts and without any legal or rational basis,” he said.
