KUALA LUMPUR – The opposition is demanding that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (Pekan-BN) be referred to Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee over allegedly misleading statements he made in the lower House yesterday.
Tony Pua (Damansara-PH) said he has submitted a letter to the speaker’s office under Standing Order 36(12) of the Dewan Rakyat.
In Parliament today, Pua highlighted four statements made by Najib during his debate of the royal address yesterday which were described as confusing and insulting.
The first is Najib’s claim that the government has not repaid a single sen of the principal amount of the 1MDB's debt.
Pua said this statement is false as the government had paid a total of RM8.8 billion in principal and interests when Najib was finance minister.
The DAP lawmaker also took issue with Najib’s remark that 1MDB had saved the country RM50 billion when the former state investment arm acquired several problematic independent power producers (IPPs).
“This is false because 1MDB took over the IPPs with an exorbitant fee and has caused the loss of billions of ringgit. 1MDB made losses, and did not profit RM50 billion.”
Additionally, he said Najib’s claim that the saving of the IPPs increased Petronas’ reserves from RM30 billion to RM176 billion in 2018 was also inaccurate as the oil and gas company’s reserves are raised on its own.
Finally, Pua said the statement by the Umno leader that Bandar Malaysia is valued at RM140 billion is also false, clarifying that this amount is the gross development value of the project, and that its actual land value is only between RM9 billion and RM12 billion.
Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH) said Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz’s statement earlier today – that Najib’s claim that the government has not paid a single sen of 1MDB principal debt is baseless – also proves the Pekan MP has misled the House.
“It is pertinent that Pekan be referred to the Rights and Privileges Committee.”
In response, Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon said Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Haron will give consideration on the matter and provide his answer later.
In his debate yesterday, Najib had said the government has not been using public funds to repay the principal amount as various other entities have already returned 1MDB-related funds totalling RM23 billion to Malaysia.
“In 2018, the 1MDB debt stood at RM32 billion, and it remained the same from 2019 to 2021,” he had said. – The Vibes, March 3, 2022
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