Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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(May 21): Putrajaya must sack the 1Malaysia Development Bhd board for the RM42 billion debt scandal or it will bring down the government, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin told an Umno gathering last week in a video clip available on YouTube.

The deputy prime minister said this was his advice to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, adding he was not against the Umno president's leadership.

"The entire 1MDB board should be sacked and the police should be called in to investigate their involvement in the scandal," Muhyiddin told the Umno gathering to wide applause.

"I told the PM, sack the 1MDB board. If I owned the company, and the CEO racked up so much of debt, that I had to pay interest between RM100 and RM200 million every month, what else to do? Just sack," he told the crowd, with Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in attendance.

He said he decided to take the "bull by its horns" when it came to the 1MDB controversy, after the company racked up a RM42 billion debt.

"I don't run away from the bull. I take it by its horns.”

"There are rumours saying that there are some manoeuvring (to remove the PM), but that is not true.”

He said he had his "own stand" on certain issues, adding that it was difficult to the RM42 billion debt to the public.

"I look at the list of questions raised in Parliament and I wonder, how are we going to address all these concerns?"

He said sacking the 1MDB board would send a clear signal that Putrajaya viewed  the issue seriously.

Muhyiddin is among a few Umno leaders who have criticised 1MDB, the brainchild of Najib. Others include former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who said he was open to debate with Najib on 1MDB’s debt.

Dr Mahathir has in recent weeks voiced dissatisfaction over the controversial fund and has said Najib could not be forgiven for losing RM42 billion through the state investment vehicle.

He said in Ipoh last weekend he has been studying 1MDB since 2009.

He said since then, there had been unsatisfactory answers on why power plants were purchased at way above market rates and why its funds were kept in Cayman Islands.

Najib had attempted to answer some of the criticism in his blog but was slammed by social media users for being evasive. – The Malaysian Insider

 

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