Kit Siang: Time for full audit of losses under Mahathir

DAP has called for a full audit and accounting of the losses from alleged financial scandals under former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad's leadership.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in a statement yesterday, said this was necessary as the present administration "does not seem to have learnt any lesson from (the past scandals)".

"Malaysians are shocked and outraged by the cynical comment of former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad who sought justification for the government's bail out MAS which resulted in a loss of public funds on the specious ground that there were worse cases of bailouts after he stood down," said the Ipoh Timor MP.

Lim ( right) said Mahathir's excuse yesterday to explain away the first RM1.8 billion MAS bailout under his watch was "perverse logic".

The former PM had ticked off the media for focusing on the bailout when others, for example his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had also lost huge sums of public money.

"This is the classic perverse Mahathirish illogic that could righteously argue that so long as there is a greater financial scandal in later administrations under his successor-prime ministers, there is no need for him to feel remorse, guilt or responsibility for the colossal loss of public funds or for the lack of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance with regard to the earlier financial scandals under his watch."

Lim called the present settlement between former MAS chief Tajudin Ramli and Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd a continuation of the legacy started by Mahathir, and said it was time to call such scandals to account.

"The time has come for a full audit and accounting of the RM100 billion losses in the financial scandals of the 22-year Mahathir premiership, especially as the Najib government does not seem to have learnt any lesson from them.

Something amiss with settlement

Meanwhile in another statement today, Lim continued to harp on the scandals surrounding Tajudin, aiming this time at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

He demanded Najib give a frank and honest answer whether the RM589 million out-of-court settlement of Tajudin's debts is proof that Malaysians are still paying for Mahathir’s financial scandals.

"More and more Malaysians are asking this question as there is total lack of transparency, accounting, explanation or details for the RM580 million out-of-court settlement with government-linked corporations (GLCs),” said Lim.

He quipped that the BN government has achieved another “world record ... in being the first government in the world to surrender a court judgment for RM580 million."

Lim noted that Mahathir had denied Tajudin's affidavits in court that claimed Mahathir had made him buy MAS to help bail out Bank Negara after the central bank had suffered massive foreign exchange losses due partly to speculation in foreign currency markets.

Tajudin in his affidavit ( right ) had also claimed that the purchase was his "national service" with an "overriding agreement" to indemnify him against any losses suffered.

However, Lim opined that Tajudin's version of the debacle is more credible based on four reasons:

1. Tajudin would be out of his mind to buy at RM8 something trading at RM3.50 then.

2. Tajudin would only do so if he had been protected by an overriding agreement as he has claimed.

3. The overriding claim appears credible because the government did subsequently buy the shares back from him at twice the market price, when the  government was  not otherwise obliged to do.

4. Affidavits being sworn statements to the court makes a false statements an act of perjury, a punishable offence.

"As prime minister, Najib would know what actually transpired and Malaysians want him to tell the country the truth, whether it is Mahathir or Tajudin who is lying and whether criminal action would be instituted against Tajudin if he had committed perjury in his affidavits," he added.