With Najib now facing another 25 charges for the 1MDB trial, Malaysians continue to talk about the verdict – all charges are valid, and the former PM has been ordered to enter defense.
In his podcast posted yesterday (October 30), Former Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he had advised former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to take action against tycoon Jho Low when the latter was in office but said no.
“No, he’s a legitimate businessman,” Najib told KJ back then.
KJ said he advised Najib about the matter when the latter was still the Prime Minister by saying,
“You have to throw him under the bus if he’s responsible.”
Soon after, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal were sacked, and Cabinet members were instructed not to talk about 1MDB.
“Najib told me that he would handle everything on his own as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance.”
Khairy said that apart from Muhyiddin, Shafie, and then Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, several cabinet members had also been questioning Najib over the 1MDB incident.
A few days earlier, Najib publicly apologised to Malaysians over his 1MDB trial. In the podcast, KJ also questioned the relevance of the apology, as well as its timing.
“If we take Najib’s apology at face value, claiming he was deceived, then as former Damansara Member of Parliament Tony Pua pointed out, we have to ask – Why didn’t Najib take further action when this issue came to light? Why sack the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister, the Attorney General, or the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC)?”
KJ also said that Najib’s behavior is inconsistent with someone who claims to have been cheated. You can listen to the full podcast below.
What do you think of KJ’s take on this? Would things have progressed differently if Najib had taken action against Jho Low back then?
