‘TIN KOSONG’ ANWAR THE WORST PM? – SERIOUSLY, WHO CAN BE WORSE THAN ‘PENGKHANIAT’ ‘KERAJAAN GAGAL’ MUHYIDDIN! – TIN KOSONG EVEN MORE VENGEFUL & CRUEL THAN ‘MAHAZALIM’ MAHATHIR? – WHY? FOR POTENTIALLY HAULING UP BIG SHOTS LIKE DAIM ZAINUDDIN OVER PANDORA PAPERS, ‘GENG’ MUHYIDDIN & HADI FOR ALLEGED MASSIVE CORRUPTION WORSE EVEN THAN NAJIB’S 1MDB? – BUT IF THE INVESTIGATIONS & CHARGES ARE EVENTUALLY PROVEN, THEN TIN KOSONG COULD ACTUALLY BE A ‘HERO’! – ‘AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, THIS IS AN EXPOSE BUT NOT MANY COUNTRIES HAVE THE POLITICAL DETERMINATION TO DIRECT A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION BUT ALHAMDULILAH, MALAYSIA IS A COUNTRY WHICH CLEARLY WANTS TO TAKE ACTION & STOP THIS PRACTICE, THE CULTURE OF SHIFTING, LOOTING THE COUNTRY’S MONEY’
An opposition lawmaker has accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of being more vindictive than the latter’s archnemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Responding to the corruption charges against a Bersatu leader today, Pendang MP Awang Hashim asked why there were no charges in more serious cases.
Specifically, he asked why there is a lack of prosecution on the littoral combat ship (LCS) scandal – a case that is linked to Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, Awang said charging Bersatu information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan for corruption was selective prosecution, and reflected badly on Anwar.
“If this is the start for the prime minister, he is the worst prime minister in Malaysia.
“Even Dr Mahathir who was called cruel (zalim) was not like this.
“The prime minister’s vindictiveness is very strong and very vengeful,” he said.
Wan Saiful was charged today with soliciting a bribe of an unspecified amount and for receiving a bribe of RM6.96 million between July 8, 2022 and Sept 30, 2022.
A businessperson, who is also a Bersatu member, was also charged with seeking a bribe of between 3.5 percent and 7 percent from the value of a project.
Both cases were linked to the Jana Wibawa programme, with Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin also being questioned by the MACC over the matter.
Awang said another case of selective prosecution was the probe into the contents of the Pandora Papers regarding offshore accounts, in which another of Anwar’s rivals, Daim Zainuddin, is implicated.
He said if Anwar wanted to fix the perception that the latter was vindictive, he should take action on the LCS scandal.
“Let prosecution be serious and non-selective. (Prosecute on the) LCS (case) first
“Because the LCS (involves) those on the prime minister’s left and right,” he said.
Criminal charges over the LCS case are actually already in court.
In August last year, former Boustead Naval Shipyard (BNS) managing director Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor was charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust involving RM21.08 million.
However, critics have asked why more charges have not been filed against Zahid.
The letter of award for the project was issued in 2011, when Zahid was the defence minister.
While the deputy prime minister had denied involvement in the LCS procurement, he had signed off on a letter of intent from BNS on the project.
Official reports also cite Zahid as having changed his mind on the design for the LCS – against the navy’s wishes.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli had also implicated Bersatu leader Abdul Latiff Ahmad in the scandal, although the latter has vehemently denied it.
Back on the charges against Wan Saiful, Awang said that this was likely aimed at weakening Perikatan Nasional ahead of the six state elections in Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.
A similar sentiment was shared by PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
“I view (the charges against Wan Saiful) as selective prosecution, which must be related to preparations for the state elections,” he said. MKINI
Pandora papers: PM orders related bodies to continue investigating
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has ordered related bodies to continue investigations related to the Pandora Papers thoroughly to ensure that action can be taken.
He said the investigation which among others involves the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Inland Revenue Board, was focused on big personalities in the country including the former prime minister and former finance minister who were believed to have misused powers to garner wealth during their tenure of service.
“My instruction to these bodies is to continue thorough investigations and I am asking my fellow members of parliament, comprising a total of 222 individuals, to take a firm stance not to be protective and dispute the intentions of the investigation.
“If there is proof…there are facts, then action will be taken but if action is taken without facts then it can be challenged as an abuse of power or being politically motivated.
“At the international level, this is an expose but not many countries have the political determination to direct a thorough investigation but Alhamdulilah, Malaysia is a country which clearly wants to take action and stop this practice, the culture of shifting, looting the country’s money,” he said during the Prime Minister’s Question and Answer in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 21).
Anwar said this in reply to a question by Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad (BN-Parit Sulong) who wanted to know the government’s stance on the Pandora Papers issue as well as the extent of the investigation and follow-up action by the party conducting the investigation.
To a supplementary question by Noraini about steps taken by the government to ensure transparency and accountability of the financial industry and tax protection, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, said the government has established transparency in the open tender process, especially involving Bumiputeras.
“There is a practice of using the opportunity to help Bumiputeras but embezzling of money cannot be allowed.
“While there is a policy to help the Bumiputeras, we cannot allow Bumiputeras to ask companies to give money to individuals and parties,” he said.
Answering an additional question from Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian) on whether the government intends to examine offshore accounts including political funds that have been channelled abroad, the Prime Minister said these matters including the Pandora Papers are a priority because it affects the interests of the country as a whole.
Elaborating further, Anwar said the amount of money involved in the Pandora Papers issue is considered quite high when compared to the total population and the country’s economic position, and Malaysia was also at the top in addition to other big countries such as China and Saudi Arabia.
“Money that was taken out of Malaysia was from illicit sources, mostly illegal but I can’t say all are (illegal).
“This is up to the investigative body but this number is quite high for this country.
“Even though there are 3,000 (names), the priority is according to the coordination of the investigative bodies, and it is not excluding the funds from abroad or within the country or to offshore tax havens to eluding tax, and those that violate the law are being investigated and several actions have been taken,” he said.
He also assured that the investigation regarding the issue will not be shoddily carried out as it must serve as a lesson to all parties that the government would not allow such matters to persist. – Bernama
MKINI / BERNAMA
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