PUTRAJAYA, Aug 3 — Pressured by criticism of his administration’s handling of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Datuk Seri Najib Razak reminded government servants today of their duty to mend what he called a “confidence deficit” brought on by allegations circulating on social media.
The embattled prime minister said attention must be given to a political transformation agenda to restore public confidence towards his administration.
“What some call as a confidence deficit… this is our duty to restore and increase confidence of the people,” Najib told civil servants at the monthly meeting here.
The second-term PM noted the uphill task in dealing with social media where perception has a stronger influence than reality.
“From a social aspect, we are faced with (a challenge) as to how to manage social media where the paradigms are different.
“One of the challenges is where perception is always stronger than reality in politics,” he added.
Najib said that if the Cabinet worked as a team, Putrajaya can weather any challenge successfully.
“I am confident and believe that if the Cabinet functions as a team with help from other administrative staffs and high ranking officers in a strong bond, there will be no challenges that we cannot weather successfully,” he said.
Najib is currently under pressure by several civil societies and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to resign, following corruption allegations linked to federal funds allegedly being banked into his personal accounts.
In a report in June, US-based daily Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, claimed that a money trail showed that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) were moved among government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Najib’s accounts.
Instead of using the usual letter of demand that typically start off defamation suits, Najib’s lawyers then sent WSJ a letter with a two-week deadline to confirm if it was accusing him of misappropriating the US$700 million from 1MDB.
The deadline has since passed but it is unclear yet if Najib’s lawyers have filed any court action against the US publisher.
Last Tuesday, Najib abruptly switched up his ministers and dropped several from Cabinet who had been critical of his handling of 1MDB, including Umno Number Two Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
A day after Muhyiddin was axed, a leaked video recording surfaced on social media, showing the former deputy prime minister claiming to guests at his Damansara Heights house that he had confronted Najib about a RM2.6 billion injection into the latter’s personal bank accounts from a Middle East source and that the prime minister had confirmed to receiving it.
Despite the uproar over his removal, however, Muhyiddin has said that he will not challenge his Cabinet removal as it is the prime minister’s prerogative.
Four other ministers were also dropped in the Cabinet reshuffle: Rural and Regional Development Minister Shafie, who was replaced by Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob; Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Palanivel, who was replaced by Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Wan Tuanku; Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hasan, who was replaced by Datuk Hamzah Zainudin; as well as Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Ewon, who was replaced by Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau.
