It’s the first official working day since last Wednesday’s (9th May) historic general election, and the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is wasting no time and getting to work!
After stating on Saturday (12th May) that there was enough evidence to probe into the infamous 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal involving former Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, current Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has since reportedly instructed the Auditor-General to declassify a report about the case, which was protected by the Official Secrets Act.
Source: New Straits Times
Over the weekend, the former Prime Minister and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, were blacklisted by the Department of Immigration to prevent them from leaving the country. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir told reporters,
“We have placed certain restrictions on a number of people who may be involved in wrongdoing or in making wrong decisions.”
Since barring the former premier from leaving Malaysia, Tun Mahathir has also given instructions to the auditor-general to declassify the report on the 1MDB scandal that was previously protected under the Official Secrets Act, according to The Star.
The Prime Minister justified this decision, saying that he wanted to investigate the issue as quickly as possible because it involved a large sum of money. After studying the report, Najib Razak is expected to be investigated by the authorities soon.
Source: FMT
The scandal began when RM2.6 billion in 1MDB funds was discovered to have been channelled into the former Prime Minister’s personal account, which he claimed was a donation from Saudi royalty. Prior to the historic 14th general election, Najib told Bloomberg that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing and that he was already cleared.
However, Tun Mahathir accused Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali of hiding evidence relating to the scandal, saying,
“We have to look into who is the attorney-general. At the moment, the attorney-general has undermined his own credibility. He has, in fact, hidden evidence of wrongdoing and that is wrong in law.”
Source: Malay Mail
The case is currently being investigated by at least six countries, including the United States. According to the New Straits Times, Tun Dr Mahathir stated that Malaysia would reach out to the U.S. authorities that are investigating the 1MDB case.
Now, it looks like we’ll just have to wait and see what this means for the former prime minister!
Also read: “I Prevented Najib From Leaving the Country”, Dr. M Reveals
