KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Former Parliament Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia has “come out of the woodwork” after abandoning Umno but is still denying the reality of the 1MDB scandal, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said.

Commenting on Pandikar’s appearance in the PBS campaign for the Sandakan by-election, the Iskandar Puteri MP noted that the former asked voters in Pulau Berhala if they have even heard of the 1MDB scandal.

Lim categorised Pandikar’s remarks as the continuation of his dereliction while the latter had been “Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB Speaker of Parliament”.

“The 13th Parliament could have performed its patriotic duty to save Malaysia from being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy, but you stood in the way and did Najib’s every bidding.

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“But horror of horrors, you now tell the voters of Pulau Berhala that you have never heard of the 1MDB scandal!” Lim said in a statement today.

The DAP leader also reminded Pandikar that he was among those who quit Umno Sabah and had pledged allegiance to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government and Warisan state government in Sabah.

Lim said that while Pandikar’s word did not mean anything, the latter should at least begin giving some thought to the damage wrought on Malaysia by the 1MDB scandal.

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According to press reports, Pandikar told residents in Pulau Bersatu that issues such as the 1MDB corruption scandal made little difference to their lives compared to the previous Barisan Nasional government’s now-discontinued Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M).

While he had been the Speaker of Parliament, Pandikar routinely rejected motions to discuss 1MDB after saying that, among others, the issue ended when the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concluded its inquiry.

The Petaling Jaya South MP at the time, Hee Loy Sian, tried to sue Pandikar for “unlawful” conduct because of the continued rejections in 2017 but the courts rejected this.

The Sandakan by-election is on May 11.