BNM forex scandal: Kit Siang now caught in ‘Mexican standoff’, claims Raja Petra

(NST) – DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang appears to have been caught up in a ‘Mexican standoff’ over the government’s probe into Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) foreign exchange scandal in the 1990s.

Blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, in a posting on the Malaysia Today website yesterday, said Kit Siang now appears to be torn between his mission to target Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, as well as to refrain from blaming Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his new ally courtesy of the former prime minister’s party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

Raja Petra said matters were triggered last month when the one-time Assistant Governor of Bank Negara, Datuk Abdul Murad Khalid, revealed that the central bank actually suffered foreign exchange losses of US$10 billion from 1989 to 1992.

Just a few days prior to Murad’s revelation, the media had reported on the declassified United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) papers on the scandal.

“As much as the opposition tried to brush it aside by saying that this was an old story and no longer relevant, they knew that this was not so,” said Raja Petra.

The blogger noted that DAP, just before the 2013 General Election, had organised a seminar in Penang on BNM’s forex losses.

He said that at the seminar, it was revealed that that losses incurred were huge, and that there was a coverup. DAP at the seminar had also demanded the setting up of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to uncover the truth.

“So, if it is an ‘old story’ from 1992, why did DAP organise a seminar regarding the matter 20 years later, which was only five years ago, around the same time when the move to sabotage 1Malaysia Development Bhd started?

“In other words, five years ago DAP considered this matter still very relevant and a matter that required further investigation because over the last 25 years or so, the truth has been concealed and we have been lied to all this while,” he claimed.

Raja Petra said that since 1993, Kit Siang had served as the ‘chief crusader’ of the BNM forex scandal.

“So last month, Murad did what DAP wanted: which was to reveal the truth…Kit Siang’s wish was granted and now he finds that the truth hurts and he cannot handle the truth,” he said.

He said Kit Siang cannot turn around and label the issue an ‘old story’ and no longer relevant, especially when he himself had insisted that the issue be kept alive for more than 20 years.

“If he does a U-turn after being the ‘chief crusader’ of the Bank Negara forex scandal for more than two decades, his credibility will be totally destroyed. But if he goes along with it and supports the RCI on the Bank Negara Forex scandal, while he may save his credibility, he will have to sell out Dr Mahathir and (Datuk Seri) Anwar Ibrahim.

Raja Petra also pointed out that former Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, as well as Anwar, had either offered assistance or supported the move to probe the issue.

He said Anwar, in saying that an ex-Bank Negara official, now a minister, was complicit in the affair, was effectively “hanging Dr Mahathir out to dry.”

“Meanwhile Kit Siang has gone into damage control mode. He wants to appear still concerned about the US$10 billion forex scandal but does not want it to appear as if he is selling out Mahathir and Anwar. So Kit Siang has challenged Annuar Musa to a debate. And when Annuar ignored him, three days ago Kit Siang gave Annuar 48 hours to come out with a joint-press conference. And that deadline has already ended,” he noted.

Raja Petra theorised that if Kit Siang stands by Dr Mahathir and Anwar, he is going to “get dragged down with them, and if Kit Siang abandons the duo, Pakatan Harapan will be wiped out.

On Feb 22, the Prime Minister’s Office had announced that ex-Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, has been appointed as the chairman of a task force to probe the forex losses.

The task force would be entrusted with unearthing the extent of a possible coverup, as well as possible misleading statements issued during parliamentary sittings. The task force would then suggest follow-ups to the government, including the possibility of the formation of an RCI, if necessary.