KUALA LUMPUR - Authorities must investigate if the RM2.6 billion donation to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that an Umno leader said was given by an Arab king and prince has compromised Malaysia's sovereignty, several federal opposition lawmakers said.
Apart from pointing out that using the contribution to help Barisan Nasional (BN) win Election 2013 could be a violation of election laws, the lawmakers also asked if by accepting such a large contribution, the prime minister had effectively made Malaysia beholden to Arab interests.
"If what they say is true, then yes it is basically a direct influence on the politics of our country and a compromise of our sovereignty," DAP Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari told Malay Mail Online when contacted, referring to the origin of the money claims made by several Umno leaders in their party divisional meetings last weekend and previously.
"Is our country a puppet state of the Arabs? Are we proxies for rich Arabs who want to propagate their interests?" he asked.
Zairil said Malaysians want a full disclosure from Najib on the RM2.6 billion, telling the prime minister that merely describing the funds as a “donation” was not a sufficient answer.
"Ask any Malaysian on the street... no one believes it," Zairil added.
In the latest revelation on the RM2.6 billion saga, an Umno division leader said yesterday that the funds found in Najib’s private accounts were donated by an “Arab king and prince”.
Zairil
According to Kepong Umno division chief Datuk Ridhuan Abdul Hamid, the money was meant to be a political donation to be used during Election 2013.
On Saturday, Umno's Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi made similar claims about the donation, with the latter claiming that the funds were meant to help Umno fight “Jewish-backed” DAP during Election 2013 and the former saying the donor had wanted Umno and BN to stay in power.
PKR’s Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar said Abdul Aziz's remarks were clear proof Umno had broken the country's election laws.
She added that accepting the donation "clearly" compromised the country's sovereignty.
"Quite crystal clear. I can't wait for our suit to proceed and for such wrongs to be made right," she told Malay Mail Online, in reference to PKR's lawsuit against Najib which was filed as a follow-up to Wall Street Journal’s expose last month on the RM2.6 billion.
In the lawsuit, PKR accused the prime minister and several others of violating election laws on campaign expenses. The international business daily was the first publication to report on the funds that it said was found in the prime minister’s accounts.
The suit’s plaintiffs include PKR’s jailed leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, vice-presidents Nurul Izzah Anwar and Chua Tian Chang (Tian Chua), former secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Harapan Baru (HB) member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
Candidates contesting in the polls have a spending limit for their campaigns. According to Section 19 of the Election Offences Act 1954, candidates are permitted to spend no more than RM200,000 when contesting a federal seat and RM100,000 for state constituencies.
"I hope the suit can pave way for questions to be answered,” Nurul Izzah said.
"We might have much demands and expectations from Najib and his government, but my fear is that they are beyond moral reproach. The only way for us to get to the truth is to fight the confines of the system- through peaceful and constitutional means," the PKR vice-president added.
Harapan Baru (HB) member Khalid Samad said that opposition leaders have already filed a complaint with the Election Commission with regards to the RM2.6 billion donation, and that PKR's civil suit on the same issue had already been filed last week.
"Yes,” Khalid told Malay Mail Online when asked if he viewed the donation as a compromise of the nation's sovereignty.
“As for national sovereignty, it is a political issue now which we have to take to the streets," he added, referring to the coming Bersih 4 rally on August 29.
It was previously speculated that the RM2.6 billion had originated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a brainchild of the prime minister’s that is currently under probe for alleged financial irregularities.
But the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission recently refuted this, saying the funds had come from donors from the Middle East. The commission did not, however, reveal the identity or identities of the donors. - Malay Mail
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