Gobind urges Najib to explain Zahid’s FBI letter

The Home Minister has chosen to play deaf, dumb and blind on the matter.

KUALA LUMPUR: Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo has called on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to explain the letter that Ahmad Zahid Hamidi wrote to the FBI on an alleged felon, Paul Phua, since the Home Minister has chosen to play deaf, dumb and blind on the matter.

The IGP, added Gobind, has also chosen to avoid making comments on the matter “not because he was scared of Zahid but because there’s a court case going on”.

“Zahid wrote the letter in his official capacity as Minister of Home Affairs. So, the Prime Minister must now be accountable and take full responsibility for the actions of his minister as head of government,” said Gobind in a statement which avoided mentioning the bad English in Zahid’s letter.

“He cannot and must not run away. He must explain the circumstances under which the letter was written.”

The MP said he wanted to know in full the basis on which the Home Ministry issued the said letter.

“He must also explain if the advice of the Attorney-General was sought before the said letter was issued as it involved an ongoing criminal prosecution in the US and spoke of ‘international relations’ between Malaysia and US ‘especially in the exchange of information’,” said Gobind.

Further, continued Gobind, it was reported that the letter was allegedly written to correct a mistake the police had made in an earlier report they gave the FBI about Paul Phua and that he (Phua) was in fact assisting Malaysia on matters concerning national security.

“The Prime Minister must respond to this and put the record straight,” said Gobind. “This is not just a matter of public importance locally but one which has generated international attention.”

“It is shameful to find that Malaysia seems to have contradictory, if not odd, positions taken by the police, the Home Ministry and its government over the matter and it makes it even worse to find the Prime Minister silent in the light of this all.”

This reflects poorly on our country, he warned. “He is duty bound to speak up.”

If the Prime Minister does not as of now yet have the requisite information to respond, said Gobind in holding out an olive branch, “he should say so and immediately direct a full, open and transparent inquiry into the matter so that all doubts surrounding the matter can be resolved”.