Datuk Seri Najib Razak (centre) is implicated in a financial scandal surrounding 1MDB and an opposition lawmaker has urged British Prime Minister David Cameron not to lend the Najib administration any legitimacy by praising him. – The Malaysian Insider pic, July 29, 2015.
Pua said he hoped that there would not be any "pretentious praise" for the sake of political diplomacy while Malaysia was under a cloud of financial scandal involving state-owned investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and allegations which implicated the prime minister himself.
“While we do not need your interference over our sovereign affairs, we also do not need any pretentious praise embedded into polite diplomatic speak which will lend any legitimacy desperately sought by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration," Pua said in an open letter to Cameron.
"We also hope that the worthy mission to increase trade relations between our two countries with great historical links will not relegate your goals to make the global business environment more hostile to corruption and to support the investigators and prosecutors who can help bring the perpetrators to justice."
Pua said Malaysia had a "facade" of a moderate Westminster-like democracy which masked many ugly truths of social injustice, political oppression and extensive corruption.
Pua, who is DAP's national publicity chief, noted that Cameron had said in Singapore yesterday that "there is no place for dirty money in Britain. Indeed, there should be no place for dirty money anywhere.”
He urged Cameron to make the same point in Malaysia.
"In particular, our prime minister, whom you are to meet has been recently accused by The Wall Street Journal of receiving in his personal account cash deposits amounting to nearly USD$700 million in 2013.
"It is a damning but substantiated allegation which he has steadfastly refused to deny," Pua said.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP also said The New York Times and other media outlets had raised questions about properties owned by Najib's family in New York, Beverly Hills and London worth tens of millions of dollars.
"The sheer scale of the sums involved makes the FIFA bribery scandal look like child’s play.
"This is the very reason for the drastic iron-fisted actions Najib has taken over the past two weeks," Pua said, referring to the removal of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was part of a task force probing into the alleged money trail into Najib's accounts, and the axing of deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who had openly questioned Najib's handling of 1MDB.
Pua also highlighted to Cameron that newly promoted Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also home minister, had suspended the country's leading business papers, The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily, for their critical coverage of 1MDB.
"Can you ever imagine the UK Financial Times being suspended?”
- TMI
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