SANDAKAN – If one wants gifts from the government, just steal its money, said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng sarcastically as he lambasted a proposal to award former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak with land and a house worth an estimated RM100 million.
Lim said in a press conference here that the government is supposed to use its powers to help the people, and not help a convict.
“He (Najib) has been convicted; fined and punished with imprisonment. He has been linked to a scandal that had cost the country RM53 billion. Yet we are gifting him with a RM100 million house?
“This shows that if one wants gifts from the government, one can steal lots of government money. I don’t understand this. This is wrong. The government is misusing its powers to help a single individual.”
On Thursday, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz confirmed that the government had received an application by Najib for the alleged RM100 million residence.
Tengku Zafrul said the government is considering Najib’s request for the special privilege which is accorded to all former prime ministers under the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980.
Najib on Friday said his application for the residence was made in 2018 after the 14th general election and has since publicly rejected the RM100 million “gift”.
Today, Najib proposed that the Finance Ministry sell the land and house, and place the earnings gained thereby into a special i-Citra fund.
The RM100 million raised can be put into a special fund to be given as a loan without any interest or service costs to those who have long asked for i-Citra to be increased from RM5,000 to RM10,000.”
Lim was in Sabah for the state DAP chapter’s ordinary convention in Hakka Hall here, today.
The convention saw Sabah DAP members casting their votes to elect their leaders for the 2021-2023 term. The result was as expected as the previous Sabah DAP acting chairman Datuk Frankie Poon Ming Fung was chosen as its official chairman.
Poon, who is Tg Papat assemblyman, was acting chairman from March 2019 after the death of then Sandakan MP Datuk Stephen Wong Tien Fatt.
However, Sabah DAP former secretary Chan Foong Hin who was deemed to be the most vocal representative in the state party, was not voted into the top 15 positions on the committee.
The Kota Kinabalu MP contested against 27 others, but only 15 individuals with the highest votes would sit on the committee.
“It was an unexpected result that caught me by surprise. I wish to congratulate all the winners and wish the new committee members all the best leading Sabah DAP.
“I accept the results with an open heart and am humbled by the same.
“This was not the first time I had faced defeat in the DAP state election. The last time was in November 2015. In fact, I had lost once contesting in the Tawau parliamentary seat in 2008, but that did not deter me,” Chan said in a statement later.
The previous Sabah DAP Youth chief Phong Jin Zhe replaced Chan as secretary.
Tenom MP Noorita Sual and Odom @ Peter Dhoms Saili @ Soili have retained their positions as vice-chairs.
Sandakan MP Vivian Wong Shir Yee was elected as state publicity secretary, while Likas assemblyman Tan Lee Fatt is now Sabah DAP assistant secretary. – The Vibes, November 21, 2021
