Speaking to reporters at a community event today Johari – whose ministry owns 1MDB – was asked to comment on the debate.
“I don’t want to comment on this debate, we have already debated the issue extensively in Parliament.”
He said the reports prepared by the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee on 1MDB had been deliberated extensively and that all questions have been answered in parliament.
“If both of them want to have a debate its beyond me already, it’s a personal debate and has nothing to do with the government.”
The Auditor-General’s report on 1MDB remains under wraps as the government placed it as a document under the Official Secrets Act when it was completed.
Earlier this week, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Mahathir challenged Nazri to a debate on several issues including 1MDB, the Bumiputera Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal, and the RM2.6 billion deposited into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts.
They have since agreed to debate in Nazri’s stronghold of Padang Rengas in Perak.
Talk about the BMF scandal was recently revived when declassified US Central Intelligence Agency documents linked the Mahathir administration to about US$1 billion in losses resulting from the scandal in the 1980s.
Last year, Attorney-General Apandi Ali cleared Najib of any wrongdoing pertaining to the RM2.6 billion deposit, saying he was satisfied that the money was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family.