Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is willing to cooperate with the Malaysian anti-graft body if it investigates former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin's banking business abroad.However, he cautioned that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must carry out its duties professionally.
"If they ask me, I will give my cooperation, no problem. It is my responsibility to help facilitate investigations. But they have to be professional," he said after a dialogue with Selangor youth in Petaling Jaya today.
He said he had "proof" of Daim's alleged abuse of powers but it was shelved. However, he did not elaborate on the statement, although he said MACC should not focus its investigations solely on Daim's banking business.
Opposition politicians had previously urged anti-graft authorities to investigate Daim, with PKR's Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin in November last year highlighting the lack of police action against the former finance minister despite a police report lodged in 1999.
Anwar had lodged that report 15 years ago, accusing Daim of amassing billions of ringgit in African and Eastern Europe banks through proxies.
Three days ago, Daim had expressed his willingness to cooperate with MACC, but stressed that pressure groups should not interfere.
In a statement to state news agency Bernama, Daim had said he was confident the MACC would be able to carry out the probe.
"I stand ready to support and cooperate with MACC in its investigation," he said in the statement.
It was reported previously that Daim had confirmed owning a bank in Tanzania, but denied any abuse of power.
Daim was quoted by the news report as saying that he had been investigated on the matter twice in 1999, and they found nothing.
Pro-Umno bloggers recently reported that Daim had been attacked by cybertroopers aligned to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for criticising Putrajaya's handling of the economy.
Daim, along with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, have emerged as strong critics of Najib's administration over his handling of the economy and national politics.
In what is seen as a psychological war, Najib's supporters in the press and online portals have been attacking Daim with critical articles.
But veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin warned a few days ago that the Umno-controlled media group, Media Prima Bhd, should stop sniping at Daim as it could backfire on Najib.
Najib was more vulnerable to personal attacks than Daim and other critics, Kadir, the retired editor of the New Straits Times Press group, said in his blog.
"The cheap shots about Mohd Najib's critics might smear their image but these people are not the PM and they don't have political positions," said Kadir, referring to the PM by his full name.
"But the juicier stories about Mohd Najib, if there is, can topple him," Kadir said.
Besides opposition lawmakers, Daim and Dr Mahathir, even pro-Umno bloggers who had supported Najib to be prime minister were now becoming critical of him.
Najib took over from former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April 2008 after the loss of Barisan Nasional's two-thirds majority in the March general election that year.
Among others, Najib has been criticised for his cash aid programme, the 1Malaysia People’s Aid or BR1M, which Dr Mahathir said failed to attract voters back to BN, in addition to being unsustainable.
Najib's brainchild, the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) strategic development fund, also came under scrutiny for its massive debts and opaque operations.
Malaysia's mainstream media, which must have a government permit, have not highlighted the criticism against Najib but instead have cast aspersions on the complaints about his rule.
"So they try to weaken Daim's credibility and at the same time, force a clash between Mohd Najib and Daim," Kadir said. – January 18, 2015.
- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/anwar-willing-to-assist-anti-graft-body-if-it-investigates-daim#sthash.lsE7R9xW.dpuf
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