KUALA LUMPUR: The RM2.6 billion channelled into the prime minister’s private account was from a “brotherly” nation in the Middle East which wanted certain parties to win the last general election, said Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.

The minister of tourism and culture refuted talk that Malaysia might come under the influence of certain Middle Eastern countries as a result of the donation received by Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“The donation was given to us by a friendly nation, a nation which is not much stronger than us. Not like the US that can influence us,” he said on whether Malaysia would come under the influence of a foreign power as a result of the donation.

“But this is just a brotherly nation which wanted to see certain parties win in the general election because we are friendly with them. There’s nothing wrong,” he told reporters after the Declaration of the 2015 National Heritage.

Mohamed Nazri did not name the Middle Eastern donor.

He said it was more transparent to deposit money in a local bank compared with banking it into an overseas bank account.

“This money is a donation for the election. How are you going to bring the money if you don’t open an account?

“That’s more transparent than [when] you take cash or put the money in a Swiss bank and take it bit by bit,” he said, adding that if the money was in a local bank, the transactions would be recorded.

Najib is under scrutiny for the RM 2.6 billion transferred to his accounts between 2013 and early this year.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the funds were a donation from a Middle Eastern donor and not from debt-ridden state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

Mohamed Nazri said Najib was a victim of double standards employed by the opposition.

“I think this is double standards, as no party can come clean and say that they did not take political donations,” he said. He said every political party had its own donors, as they needed to spend a lot of money especially during the general election.

“Don’t treat this as something unusual. When we want to have laws [on political funds], they (opposition) object to it,” he said. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in digitaledge Daily, on August 12, 2015.