JULY 4 — The recent disconcerting disclosures that RM2.6 billion had been allegedly channelled into the Prime Minister’s private accounts clearly amount to corruption.
It is a terrible indictment of the lack of integrity in the national leadership. It is an embarrassment that is difficult to endure!
This came to light as a result of a report by The Wall Street Journal, a prominent business news portal, which cited documents from a government probe that had traced the flow of huge sums of money into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s private AmBank account in Kuala Lumpur. This evidence seems to confirm that money had indeed gone into the PM’s personal bank account.
Following this expose, a government spokesperson told WSJ that Prime Minister Najib had not used any funds for his personal use. That is not the point. The question is, why did this colossal sum of money go into the PM’s account when the money did not belong to him? It wasn’t his hard-earned money; neither was it inherited wealth from the family heirloom. Why then was this mind-boggling sum paid into the PM’s personal account?
We have reached a frightening situation when there appears to be no demarcation between public money and private wealth. There is obviously no accountability as to how public money is dispersed or expended.
This kind of abuse of authority in high places demeans democracy and destroys people’s trust in government. It is very shameful conduct that must be condemned strongly.
While we don’t state that the PM is corrupt, there are traces of corruption allegedly linked to him in the shocking evidence that has been unearthed. As a result, his reputation is badly damaged and irrevocably tarnished. He has a duty to clear his name and there should be no foot-dragging in this matter.
The only way he can salvage his integrity is to set up a Commission of Inquiry that will delve deeply into this allegation of corruption linking him to huge sums of taxpayers’ money in order to expose the truth that will vindicate him. He has no other choice to prove his innocence except to submit himself to a thorough scrutiny by a Commission of Inquiry which must establish the fact that whatever wealth he has accumulated was indeed legitimately earned.
The PM should gladly respond to this suggestion positively if he has nothing to hide. Failing to submit himself to this acid test would only raise eye-brows and set tongues wagging about his integrity.
* P. Ramakrishnan is a member of the executive committee of Aliran.
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
