KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — PAS and its president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang appear to be Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s last remaining apologists, said DAP’s Lim Kit Siang when noting that even Umno leaders have stopped defending their former president.
The Iskandar Puteri MP pointedly asked why the Islamist party and Hadi continued doing so, noting that Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull had laid bare the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal yesterday.
Aside from minor protestations from acting Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Lim said that there was only deafening silence from the rest of the Malay nationalist party over the raft of allegations levelled against Najib.
“In sharp contrast, Hadi’s PAS leadership has rushed to Najib’s defence with its lawyer criticizing Shukri Abdull's decision to reveal details related to the 1MDB investigation in 2015 on the ground that it was very prejudiced against the former PM and would create the perception that there was political interference in the case before this,” Lim said.
He described the Islamist party’s stance as “most shocking”, saying it suggested that PAS appeared oblivious to the 1MDB scandal sweeping Malaysia and the world over the last four years.
Lim suggested that PAS had banked on propping up Najib’s defeated Barisan Nasional in the 14th general election, before the latter lost too many seats to make this possible.
Conceding that the MACC chief’s explosive revelations to the media yesterday were unorthodox, Lim went on to offer the former his full support.
“What has Najib got to hide – and Hadi, what has the PAS President got to hide?” Lim asked.
The MACC questioned Najib for over five hours yesterday for its investigation into 1MDB and related firms.
Shukri also held a press conference later in which he divulged the threats, coercion, resistance and apathy he allegedly faced in 2015 when he had attempted to revive the probe into 1MDB and a subsidiary.
