KUALA LUMPUR – Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun has rejected requests to debate the recent revelations pertaining to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in the House, pushing it instead to Parliament’s special chamber.
The motion was filed by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PH-Port Dickson) yesterday and was read before the House this afternoon. He sought the speaker to approve a debate on the matter.
While Azhar acknowledged that the motion has largely met all the criteria necessary under the parliamentary standing orders, he said the issue will only be referred to the special chamber for “discussion” at 2.30pm today.
Disappointed by the ruling, Anwar insisted the issue be deliberated in the Dewan Rakyat, saying that it is a pressing matter with international implications that affect the country’s dignity.
Azhar, however, stood his ground, claiming that the special chamber holds a similar status as the lower House.
He also clarified that the motion will only be discussed, and not debated, this afternoon.
“By bringing it to the special chamber, we will not disrupt today’s proceedings which will debate yesterday’s royal address. We have time constraints,” he said.
Anwar then said he was willing to give up his own debate time as an opposition leader if Azhar could then allow the 1MDB issue to be raised in the House. However, Azhar declined again.
In his motion filed under Standing Order 18(1) of the Dewan Rakyat, Anwar called for a debate into the explosive revelations made by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner pertaining to the convoluted 1MDB financial scandal in a United States courtroom.
The Port Dickson MP noted that the claims made by Leissner are specific as they involve Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Leissner alleged being told in 2009 that the husband of the then BNM governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Abdul Aziz had received a bribe so that US$1 billion could be transferred to Malaysia for a joint venture.
Zeti’s husband, Datuk Tawfiq Ayman, has since denied receiving the bribe from former Goldman Sachs bankers.
Anwar said the issue is urgent and of public importance as it involves the reputation of the government and the matter is now discussed at a global scale.
Azhar agreed that the motion is urgent and of public importance, and that the issue of BNM's purported involvement in the scandal, as alleged, is also specific.
He added that he will be chairing the special chamber’s session later.
Apart from the claims involving Zeti’s husband, Leissner had also testified at the trial in New York revolving around funds taken from 1MDB, that he had bought a US$10 million (RM42 million) home in London for his ex-lover, former Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd CEO Rohana Rozhan, in 2013.
He claimed that this was after she had threatened to expose his involvement with 1MDB.
The star witness in the trial also spoke about bribes of at least US$100 million to top officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in order to grease the wheels in the financial scandal. – The Vibes, March 1, 2022
