KUALA LUMPUR, July 17 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak spent a staggering RM44.1 million on his trips abroad over the past five years, significantly more than his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who spent under RM30 million during his reign, DAP MP Nga Kor Ming revealed today.

Nga said the figure for the expenses incurred by Najib and his entourage for trips between March 2008 and May 2013 was provided by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim in a written reply to him in Parliament.

“We want the prime minister to explain what has he achieved,” Nga told reporters at Parliament here today.

“When Pak Lah was prime minister, he spent less than RM30 million in five years,” said the Taiping MP, adding that the figure was provided in a written reply to Parliament when Najib’s predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was still the prime minister.

Nga said that Najib spent an average of RM8.8 million on overseas trips annually.

Najib was appointed prime minister in April 2009.

The DAP had similarly questioned the cost of then Tourism Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen’s overseas trips in 2010, with the party’s then socialist youth chief Anthony Loke asking the rationale for Ng’s one-week trip to Europe that cost RM491,987.