COMMENT I do not doubt the intellectual ability of new BN propaganda chief Abdul Rahman Dahlan or re-appointed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said over their views on political funding.

However, like many people, including the right thinking rakyat and political observers, I question their thinking in that it is all right to get political funding from overseas or that BN chairperson, aka Najib Abdul Razak, is allowed by Umno, as president of the party, to open trust accounts under his name.

Rahman has argued that it is all right for the party president to open trust accounts under his name, while Azalina said yesterday that politicians are allowed to accept funds from overseas.

After just some thought, many people are seeing all of these arguments as a means to justify the alleged US$700 million, or RM2.6 billion, that has reportedly been  transferred into Najib's personal bank accounts.

But the biggest question still unanswered is the source of the RM2.6 billion. Is it from political donations by companies?

Or is it sourced from public funds, as reported  by The Wall Street Journal , from the Pensioners Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), channelled overseas under guise of 1MDB subsidiary companies’ investments from Cayman Islands, and brought into Najib's personal accounts as political donations?

The allegation that the KWAP fund for civil servants was involved has not been rebutted by the government, although it is being investigated by a multi-agency special task force comprising the police, Bank Negara and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Money from people like you and me?

Besides KWAP, it was reported in a reply to Parliament that more than RM3 billion had been invested by the Employees Provident Fund, KWAP and even Tabung Haji in the troubled 1MDB fund.

Have all the money from 1MDB been accounted for, as quizzed by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and shown that the funds have not ended up in someone’s personal account, labelled as donations, or abused?

If it is not from public funds but donations it could be considered all right. But some observers have alleged that the money is not from personal donations but sourced from public funds, from depositors like you and me, as members of the general public, civil servants as well as private sector workers.

This is the biggest and basic question that Najib, Rahman and Azalina ( on the right in photo ) must and should answer in public and not give vague answers that political funding came from overseas or that party coalition presidents are allowed to open accounts under their name.

This is something that Rahman, Azalina or the beneficiary of the said trust funds, in this case Najib, have failed to reply as they strive to keep the present government hold on to the reins of power.

Please also respond to former Mahathir's assertion in his blog that Umno could also have violated election regulations with the RM2.6 billion?

What about Harun Idris?

Section 3 of the MACC Act 2009 defines the prime minister, members of the cabinet and all parliamentarians as "officers of a public body" by virtue of them being "members of the ‎administration" or "members of State Legislative Assembly" or "officers of government of Malaysia or state governments".

They are all prohibited from receiving any form of gratification. Is money entering a personal account a form of gratification and,like Mahathir pointed out, did BN or Umno overspend in the 13th general election and hence flout the election laws?

Gratification under the Act, as some lawyers pointed out to me, is defined in depth and includes not just money but donations gifts loans fees office, posts, dignity, employment, contracts, service, forbearance, protection from penalty or prosecution or disciplinary action, favours, undertakings, promises and others.

This is because the law wants to ensure that corrupt politicians and public officers do not create the kind of excuses that are now voiced by ‎Rahman and Azalina.

Can Najib, Rahman ( photo ) and Azalina answer what happened to former Selangor menteri besar and Umno Youth chief Harun Idris, who was convicted of corruption for receiving political donations?

If that applied to Harun, who was charged during the tenure of  second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, who was Najib's father, why it is it not applied now? Has the law changed?

Look at Section 16 and Section 17 of the MACC Act 2009, which Najib, Rahman and Azalina helped pass in Parliament six years ago. Don’t these two sections apply now?

Sultan Azlan's quotes in sentencing Harun

One has to remember the words of former Lord President Raja Azlan Shah when convicting Harun ( photo ).

“It is painful for me to have to sentence a man I know. I wish it were the duty of some other judge to perform that task. To me this hearing seems to reaffirm the vitality of the rule of law. But to many of us, this hearing also suggests a frightening decay in the integrity of some of our leaders.

“It has given horrible illustrations of Lord Acton's aphorism 'power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely', and has focused concern on the need of some avowed limitations upon political authority.

“...the law is no respecter of persons. Nevertheless it will be impossible to ignore the fact that you are in a different category from any person that I have ever tried. It would be impossible to ignore the fact that, in the eyes of millions of our countrymen and women, you are a patriot and a leader.

“Even those who differ from you in politics look upon you as a man of high ideals. You had every chance to reach the greatest height of human achievement. But half-way along the road, you allowed avarice to corrupt you.

“It is incomprehensible how a man in your position could not, in your own conscience, recognise corruption for what it is. In so doing, you have not only betrayed your party cause, for which you have spoken so eloquently, but also the oath of office which you have taken and subscribed before your Sovereign Ruler, and above all, the law of which you are its servant,” Azlan had said. And his words are worth revisiting.

This is something which Azalina in particular should recognise, being legally trained.

The other question is if these are public funds, as claimed in the reports of WSJ and Sarawak Report , is it right for such funds to be used by Umno and BN for the purposes of winning the 13th general election as Mahathir had put it in his blog?

This was something that Bersih 2.0 had raised following the WSJ report and till today it remains unanswered.

If this is so, this could already constitute offences under election regulations, money laundering and/or corruption.

The third query is what I would like to direct is to the directors of the KWAP, EPF and Tabung Haji: have all your investments accounted for? Where have the funds of KWAP, EPF and Tabung Haji been transferred to?

Moves to protect Najib?

What is also of concern, ever since the removal of Abdul Gani Patail as attorney-general and Muhyiddin Yassin as deputy prime minister on Tuesday, is the action by the authorities against those suspected of leaking information?

It is not only that, the authorities are also taking action on the special task force formed to investigate the WSJ claim. As reported yesterday a former MACC adviser, an officer in the Attorney-General’s Chambers and a deputy public prosecutor (DPP) attached to the MACC have been hauled up.

It was also reported that following the arrests, police last night also ransacked the office of the DPP, took documents and a laptop allegedly linked to the 1MDB investigations. It is understood the DPP spent a day in the lock-up.

Are the authorities trying to intimidate or disrupt the investigators on the WSJ and 1MDB investigating the allegation on PM, as quoted in a Malaysiakini report, following the DPP being detained?.

Najib was reported to have recently warned, at Umno divisional meetings he officiated, and also during the giving out of offer certificates to 1,200 would-be haj pilgrims, not to allow the country's leadership to be determined by foreigners.

But the question, Mr Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, is, have you abused the public trust in you by what the public in general observes as abuse of power with regard to the funds and the clampdown going on now?

Study the history of Si Kitul or the fall of the Malacca Sultanate. Is it truly due to foreigners or weaknesses within? Are we heading in that direction?

HAFIZ YATIM is a member of the Malaysiakini Team.