3 August 2015
Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said that UMNO divisions’ chiefs discussed UMNO deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s comments via mobile messaging application Telegram and an overwhelming majority supported Najib’s decision to remove him from the cabinet. Out of 170 divisions chiefs 154 voted for Najib’s decision to reshuffle the cabinet.
Saturday about 100 people rallied against Najib at Kuala Lumpur calling for his arrest over allegations of abuse of 1MDB funds. The demonstration fizzed out in under an hour after the police arrested at least 29 protestors. The police said on Saturday morning that three people were arrested for enquiry into 1MDB. The three arrested were a former Anti-corruption Commission advisor, an officer from the Attorney General’s Chambers and a deputy public prosecutor seconded to the anti-graft agency. After several hours of questioning and after failing to obtain remand orders to hold them in custody, the police released them after 9 PM.
State UMNO chiefs met at Prime Minister’s residents and agreed to let Muhyiddin continue as Deputy President of UMNO. Mr Aziz said that former deputy premier could face disciplinary action over his allegation that Prime Minister admitted to receiving $700 million from Middle East into his personal account over the past two years.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, who had led the calls for Mr. Najib Razak to step down, admitted that UMNO leaders “had crossed over” and fully supported the UMNO President Mr. Najib. When asked about Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir replied that Mr. Zahid had the highest vote for the post of UMNO vice-president and therefore he was not only suited as Deputy Prime Minister but also as the Home Minister. It is obvious that Dr. Mahathir is now backing PM Najib. Dr. Mahathir faced twice uprising of his deputies against him and on both occasions he sacked his deputies. In 1986, he sacked his then Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam and in 1998 he sacked his then Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr. Mahathir may be of the opinion that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was trying to overthrow his boss to become the Prime Minister.
PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat – People’s Justice Party) secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said that whatever money that was deposited into PM Najib’s account was personal donation to him and that no money was diverted from 1MDB. He added that Barisan Nasional (ruling coalition consisting of Malays (UMNO), Chinese (MCA) and Indian (MIC) ethnic groups) will furnish proof of this. “The statements from Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Datuk Azalina Othman Said give the impression that the RM2.6 billion is supposedly from international donors, instead of being from 1Malaysia Development Berhad,” Rafizi said in a statement on 3 August, 2015.
Muhyiddin Yassin and his wife Norainee Abdul Rahman had an audience with Johor Ruler Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar at Istana Bukit Serene here yesterday. During the audience, Permaisuri Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah, Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and Mentri Besar Datuk Mohamed Khaled Nordin, were also present.
After Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s audience with the Sultan of Johor at Istana Bukit Serene, a group photo was uploaded on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page. This Facebook page is for Tunku Ismail to give his views on football and other matters. The photo shows Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, his consort the Permaisuri Johor, Raja Zarith Sofia Sultan Idris Shah, the Tunku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the Umno deputy president and his wife, Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin vowed that he would continue to raise the issue of 1MDB, even though his friends and well-wishers have asked him to do so. Speaking at the opening of Kluang Umno division meeting yesterday, he said that it was his responsibility as a leader to speak up. He added that despite his sacking from the Cabinet, he would continue to support party president and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. He said throughout his tenure as deputy prime minister, he had never been disloyal to the Government and to the Prime Minister.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s support base is in Johor. He hails from Johor. He still represents Pagoh constituency in Johor.
UPDATE
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said today that results of the investigations found that the funds deposited into Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank accounts were campaign donations, not from state fund 1MDB. It did not elaborate on the donor or why the money was transferred to Najib’s private accounts. In a statement issued to day MACC said that this was based on investigations into SRC International and that it would continue to investgate SRC International. It also said that several parallel investigations were being conducted simultaneously by the multi-agency Special Task Force.
Police and Bank Negara Malaysia are also conducting investigations into 1MDB.
SRC International Sdn Bhd is owned by the Ministry of Finance. SRC International had secured a RM4 billion Islamic loan from Kumpulan Wang Amanah Persaraan (KWAP) which was guaranteed by the Federal Government.
SRC was acquired from 1MDB before the end of March 2012 after the RM2 billion was fully disbursed. Why did 1MDB raise the RM4 billion government-guaranteed loan via SRC, and then why did the MoF take over SRC so soon after the RM2 billion loan is fully disbursed?
This is the seventh in a series of postings on 1MDB saga. The other six being:
MALAYSIA: DAVID CAMERON RAISES CORRUPTION CLAIMS AGAINST PM NAJIB RAZAK
MALAYSIA: PM NAJIB SACKS DPM, FOUR MINISTERS AND AG
MALAYSIA: SINGAPORE FREEZES TWO BANK ACCOUNTS RELATING TO IMDB PROBE
MALAYSIA: PM NAJIB DENIES CLAIMS OF $700 MILLION WIRED TO HIS ACCOUNTS.
