KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 ― A Perikatan Nasional (PN) lawmaker today called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government over alleged mismanagement of the country’s resources.
Jelebu MP Datuk Jalaluddin Alias alleged that PH had during its two years in power sold off national assets “wholesale” and accumulated RM124.5 billion in public debt, which he compared to the Barisan Nasional government that accrued RM78.8 billion in debt for 2016 and 2017.
“The stock levels fell despite that much accumulated debt, the distribution of dividends and interest fell, the economic growth stunted and in addition to those, in the 500 days of the PH government's administration, more assets were sold in a wholesale manner.
“I want to suggest that the government form a Royal Commission of Inquiry to check if there was financial mismanagement that happened during PH government's time, because we all want to know what happened with the PH government.
“With the borrowed sum of RM124.5 billion, and added with the sum from the Tabung Harapan collection, of which the usage for the over RM200 million collected was not tabled,” he said, in today's debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Previously, then Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said that Putrajaya had completely used the RM205.5 million accumulated in Tabung Harapan Malaysia (THM) to offset the debt and obligations of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Lim said the RM61.7 million was used on November 28 last year, to fund interest payments for the state investment firm’s Islamic bonds effectively exhausted the fund accumulated via public donations and interest.
The ministry previously used portions of the fund to offset earlier interest payments, pay off bounced cheques, and refund misplaced contributions.
He went on to say that 1MDB still owed RM50.5 billion inclusive of interest payments, and was only expected to fully repay this in 2039.
