Same old same old, Salleh says of Muhyiddin’s 1MDB remarks
Saying most Malaysians were no longer interested in 1MDB as it has been resolved, the Umno minister suggests if Opposition does not harp on this, it has nothing else.
PETALING JAYA: Muhyiddin Yassin wants to create the perception that the RM2.6 billion controversy is still an outstanding issue to divert issues plaguing the Opposition, Salleh Said Keruak said.
In a blog post yesterday, Salleh who claimed the Opposition was in a mess and losing ground, wondered when the former deputy prime minister was going to accept the fact that the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) saga and donation from the Middle East have been explained more than once and that the matter was now closed.
“They insist that the Prime Minister replies to the allegations against him but then when he does, they ignore these responses and act as if nothing has been replied.
“What is wrong with these people and what more do they expect?”
The communications and multimedia minister was responding to Muhyiddin’s recent claim that close to RM1 billion was already in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account even before the widely reported RM2.6 billion controversy.
Muhiyiddin was reported to have said that he had learned about the deposits prior to the purported Arab donation, from former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.
The sum, which the Wall Street Journal initially reported had been derived from 1MDB, was later revealed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to have been donated by an unnamed person from the Middle East.
Muhyiddin, the Sabah lawmaker added, should realise by now that those issues would not oust Najib, and argued that if it was the case the prime minister would have been out of office by now and Barisan Nasional would not have performed well in the recent Sarawak state election and the twin by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.
The Pagoh MP, Salleh said, was bankrupt of issues, forcing him to keep harping on the same old issue. Salleh said the 1MDB issue no longer interested most Malaysians.
“The fact remains that if the Opposition does not harp on this same old issue then they really have nothing else to use.”
Muhyiddin, the former Sabah chief minister said, should focus on his new party, Bersatu, and prepare for the next general election, which would determine whether their anti-Najib propaganda had succeeded or not.
“As it stands now, we do not even know whether Muhyiddin can mobilise his forces for the next election and offer a credible challenge to Umno and Barisan Nasional.”
Salleh’s response to Muhyiddin’s claim follows that of the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad who questioned Muhyiddin’s credibility and moral fibre.
Tengku Sariffuddin said in a statement that the funds in the Prime Minister’s accounts had been comprehensively investigated, and multiple authorities had ruled that no law had been broken.
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