“The AG or public prosecutor is now acting like a judge. The AG easily decides that there is no case. The AG has become a judge,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Mahathir (Pejuang-Langkawi) also said Idrus failed to object to allowing a certain “prisoner” to leave the country, in reference to Najib Razak’s successful application to visit his daughter in Singapore, who is expecting her second child.
“Yes, this is not against the law, but it sets a precedent. Can prisoners travel overseas to go for holidays in the future? Or are there two classes of prisoners?” he asked.
In another swipe at the former prime minister, Mahathir questioned why Najib had yet to undergo the punishment meted out to him in the SRC International case when the court had already found him guilty.
Noting that Najib had appealed the court’s decision, he said it had been nearly a year since the appeal was filed but no decision had been made yet.
“Justice delayed is justice denied.
“There are Malaysians who haven’t even been charged but have been thrown into jail, (so) why not those who have already been found guilty and sentenced? Instead, he’s allowed to leave the country.”
Mahathir also responded to Najib’s criticisms over the Pulau Batu Puteh issue, describing him as a “warrior” zealously fighting to defend the nation’s sovereignty.
But he questioned why the Pekan MP did not display the same zealousness when 1,370ha of reclaimed land in Johor were sold freehold to foreigners previously, adding that Najib had even officiated at the project.
Big budget, big debts
Mahathir also said there was no need to be proud of the RM322 billion Budget 2022, the biggest in Malaysia’s history, as it would incur big debts for the nation.
These debts would not only have to be serviced by the current government but also by future administrations, he said in urging Putrajaya to review the annual budget.
“Allocating additional funds to address problems does not always reflect the government’s concern or the budget architect’s wisdom. We do not need to be proud of the size of our budget.”
He said he understood the need to spend more to combat the pandemic and stimulate the economy, but questioned why Putrajaya showed no interest in recovering money that had been misappropriated.
“Money that was believed to have been stolen has been returned to the thieves. The government supposedly had insufficient evidence to prove that the money was government funds from 1MDB.”
He quipped that political parties in the government would win handsomely should a general election be held tomorrow, since the budget seemed to allocate greater funds for every section of the nation.
However, he maintained that the government’s debts would increase all the more, pointing out that Putrajaya was only projecting to earn RM234 billion next year when the budget would cost RM332 billion.
We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.