Najib’s Defense- The Finger Pointing Has Begun
When the former prime minister, Najib Razak, decided to take to the witness box in his own defense, many assumed he had something up his sleeve that would somehow prove his innocence.
Tarak Singh
Instead, he has spent the precious moments in the spotlight trying to put the blame on anyone but himself in a series of “he made me do its” and “I didn’t knows”.
Najib began reading his testimony last week. His first finger point landed on Jho Low, a move we all saw coming. He detailed the involvement of Low, claiming that it was the Penang-born businessman’s idea to open accounts with AmBank, that it was Low’s idea to involve Influential Middle East businessman, and that it was Low who set up most of his meetings.
In essence, a big part of his defense is to paint a picture that he, an experienced politician with all the financial and political advisors at his disposal, was manipulated by his stepson’s friends.
Not to mention the fact that when he was still Prime Minister, Najib claimed he had no idea who Low was, and stated, “Low Taek Jho has never worked in 1MDB and all decisions and transactions are made by the company’s management and board of directors.”
The major U-turn in Najib’s portrayals of his and Low’s relationship may be hard to prove considering Low is nowhere to be found, though it also gives Najib free reign to make the stories as intricate as he pleases.
Once he was done placing blame on Low, he moved on to Nik Faisal, the former SRC International executive. Here he spent his time rejecting the assertion that Faisal acted as an intermediary between himself and the company. Rather Najib tried to throw Faisal under the bus as his next victim.
He claimed Faisal purposefully kept information from him stating, “It is clear that Nik Faisal has played both sides. To me he said matters have been decided by the board and to the board he said I have given such orders to be followed.”
But wait, there’s more. Najib then singled out Tan Sri Ismee, another SRC International director. He was blamed for being ignorant regarding Faisal’s duplicity and for accepting Faisal’s statements at face value. “He (Ismee) has my personal number to contact and we have met several times before. Never was I asked once about what he (Nik Faisal) told the board,” stated Najib.
So far, rather than supply the court with one piece of solid evidence absolving himself pf guilt, Najib is finger pointing left, right, and center.
We wonder who will be next on the hit-list, and we wonder if anyone is buying the many stories Najib and his defense are selling.
