The deafening silence of Pakatan’s lawmakers
(TMI) – NAJIB Razak seldom spoke up in Parliament, even back when Barisan Nasional was in power and he was prime minister.
So, it came as a huge surprise when the Pekan MP stood up today and spoke about 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its troubles, and the RM2.6 billion “donation” that went into his personal accounts.
Najib never once addressed the donation when Dr Mahathir Mohamad criss-crossed the country calling him a thief to the thousands who turned up at his ceramah.
He never answered the Wall Street Journal when the business paper alleged that the contentious RM2.6 billion donation had originated from 1MDB, nor did he respond when the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ) reported that US$4.5 billion had gone to “Malaysian Official No. 1”.
But today, he spoke about how he thought it was odd to be charged after returning a huge chunk of the donation and how he planned to recover 1MDB’s money after winning the election.
During his time in power, he delegated the job to other BN leaders, press officers and a speaker who refused to allow the issue to be discussed in Parliament.
The irony, however, is that after all the trouble Pakatan Harapan had gone through to challenge the speaker, facing defamation suits and arrests in the process, today, its lawmakers failed to stand up to and challenge Najib.
Not one Pakatan lawmaker took advantage of the new freedoms in Parliament to ask the very questions their constituents would have expected of them: who did he return the donation to and where is the proof? Why did the DoJ say 1MDB money was embezzled? What’s his connection to wanted Penang businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low? Who is MO1?
Even as Dr Mahathir Mohamad criss-crossed the country calling him a thief, Najib Razak never once addressed his claims about the donation. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, October 23, 2018.
Or did the Pakatan lawmakers think that everything would eventually come out when Najib answers for the 32 charges levelled against him in court?
The fact is, Najib had it easy in Parliament today. He was not interrupted as he went on to defend the donation he had received and the way his adminstration had handled the 1MDB affair.
Save for a lone PAS MP from Pendang, who asked a pointless question about Kelantan’s financial abilities, Najib had the Dewan Rakyat all to himself for more than 30 minutes.
Malaysians watching the Parliament proceedings live on television at home were sure to have cringed.
They must have wondered what had brought about this defeaning silence from their previously gung-ho, loud-mouthed representatives, who had never stopped talking about the 1MDB scandal and donation in the run-up to GE14.
Talk about a missed opportunity indeed!
