Will today’s weekly cabinet meeting address
burning national issues or will it again skirt around them, asks veteran
opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang.
Lim pointed out that a number of issues have been dominating public discussions over the past week. They include:
1. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) RM42 billion scandal;
2. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's family wealth; and
3. National and international criticisms of judicial independence in Malaysia.
“Can
Malaysians expect the prime minister or some minister to inform them
later in the day of what the cabinet has decided on these three dominant
issues of the day?
“Or whether the cabinet had cowardly and irresponsibly steered completely clear of all these three issues in their cabinet meeting?” he asked in a statement today.
The Gelang Patah MP brought up the need for the cabinet to “take the bull by its horns” in handling the 1MDB mega-scandal exposes and urged all BN component parties to be responsible and not just “pass the buck” to Najib.
A full scale inquiry is needed
He once again illustrated the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) headed by former law minister Mohd Zaid Ibrahim, or to give support for a full-scale Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the scandal.
“Will the cabinet end its traditional three monkeys stance of “eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not” on the 1MDB scandal for the past six years?” Lim, who is also DAP parliamentary leader, asked again.
The debt-laden outfit reportedly settled an RM2 billion debt due to several banks last week, under suspicious circumstances.
As for the issue on Najib's family wealth, Lim asked whether ministers at today’s cabinet meeting would have the gall to ask Najib to “come clean” with the cabinet.
“Will any minister in the meeting today dare to ask the prime minister to come clean with the cabinet about his family’s wealth as well as what the PMO meant by its statement on ‘...the alleged contents of any safes...’?
“How many such ‘safes’, are there? In which country and what are in these ‘safes’,” he asked.
An extensive report by the New York Times published on Feb 8 highlighted Najib's family wealth.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) responded with a statement saying: “Neither any money spent on travel, nor any jewellery purchases, nor the alleged contents of any safes are unusual for a person of the prime minister’s position, responsibilities and legacy family assets."
Lim pointed to several issues that have taken place since last year that have brought the country into international spotlight, albeit negatively.
These range from the incarceration of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to the conviction and death sentence delivered on former police commandos Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
With all these events, the question now lies as to whether "there is truly an independent judiciary" and a just rule of law in Malaysia, Lim added.
Lim pointed out that a number of issues have been dominating public discussions over the past week. They include:
1. 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) RM42 billion scandal;
2. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's family wealth; and
3. National and international criticisms of judicial independence in Malaysia.
“Can
Malaysians expect the prime minister or some minister to inform them
later in the day of what the cabinet has decided on these three dominant
issues of the day?“Or whether the cabinet had cowardly and irresponsibly steered completely clear of all these three issues in their cabinet meeting?” he asked in a statement today.
The Gelang Patah MP brought up the need for the cabinet to “take the bull by its horns” in handling the 1MDB mega-scandal exposes and urged all BN component parties to be responsible and not just “pass the buck” to Najib.
A full scale inquiry is needed
He once again illustrated the need for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) headed by former law minister Mohd Zaid Ibrahim, or to give support for a full-scale Public Accounts Committee (PAC) inquiry into the scandal.
“Will the cabinet end its traditional three monkeys stance of “eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not” on the 1MDB scandal for the past six years?” Lim, who is also DAP parliamentary leader, asked again.
The debt-laden outfit reportedly settled an RM2 billion debt due to several banks last week, under suspicious circumstances.
As for the issue on Najib's family wealth, Lim asked whether ministers at today’s cabinet meeting would have the gall to ask Najib to “come clean” with the cabinet.
“Will any minister in the meeting today dare to ask the prime minister to come clean with the cabinet about his family’s wealth as well as what the PMO meant by its statement on ‘...the alleged contents of any safes...’?
“How many such ‘safes’, are there? In which country and what are in these ‘safes’,” he asked.
An extensive report by the New York Times published on Feb 8 highlighted Najib's family wealth.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) responded with a statement saying: “Neither any money spent on travel, nor any jewellery purchases, nor the alleged contents of any safes are unusual for a person of the prime minister’s position, responsibilities and legacy family assets."
Lim pointed to several issues that have taken place since last year that have brought the country into international spotlight, albeit negatively.
These range from the incarceration of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to the conviction and death sentence delivered on former police commandos Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azhar Umar for the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.
With all these events, the question now lies as to whether "there is truly an independent judiciary" and a just rule of law in Malaysia, Lim added.
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