KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s appointment as Barisan Nasional Backbenchers’ Club (BNBBC) chairman is a sign of kleptocracy’s imminent return to Malaysia, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang today.
Lim said that he fears the appointment of Najib — who was convicted of corruption earlier this year in relation to the 1MDB scandal — will also affect Malaysia’s rating in the coming Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2020.
The TICPI is a global indicator of corruption in a country’s public sector. In 2019, a year after Najib lost power, Malaysia scored 53 on the TICPI — the highest it has achieved since 1995.
“Let me just say that there is no reason for me to fear Najib, but I am very afraid that kleptocracy and financial scandals like the 1MDB scandal will make a comeback in Malaysia, as public integrity and anti-corruption have not taken deep roots in Malaysia,” said Lim in a statement today.
Lim also thanked Najib for providing an explanation on how the latter was appointed as BNBBC chairman on Facebook yesterday. Najib was responding to an earlier request from Lim for such an explanation.
“He is really committed to making a comeback and I am surprised that Barisan Nasional, whether Umno, MCA or MIC had learnt nothing from the 14th general election debacle with regard to the 1MDB scandal or Malaysia as a kleptocracy,” said Lim.
He also made a reference to how when Najib was convicted earlier this year, the presiding judge found that Najib never expressed any remorse for his crimes.
“With Najib as chairman of BNBBC in Parliament, without any remorse for the 1MDB scandal and Malaysia becoming a kleptocracy, I am very pessimistic about the TI CPI 2020 Report which would be released in three months’ time,” he said.
On July 28, Najib was found guilty by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur for abuse of power and misappropriating over RM42 million from 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) former subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali sentenced Najib to 12 years’ imprIsonment and a fine amounting to RM210 million.
However, Najib remains free and an active MP pending an appeal he submitted against the verdict.
