Following the disclosure that RM2.6 billion in Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts came from political donations and not from 1MDB, critics should apologise to the prime minister, said Department of Special Affairs (Jasa) adviser Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz.

In a Facebook post, Tun Faisal said an apology must also be tendered to business magnate Jho Low and 1MDB president Arul Kanda over the "wrongful accusations" against them.

Instead of doing this, he said, detractors continued to spin the issue and hurl allegations.

"When MACC confirmed the sum was deposited into Najib's accounts, does this not mean MACC is independent and not bound to any instructions to conceal this fact?

"But the critics do not want to accept this. Now their spin has changed," Tun Faisal ( photo ) added.

He had, before this, said detractors had accused Najib, Jho Low and Arul Kanda of embezzling 1MDB funds but now, different questions are posed.

This includes calling on Najib to name the donor or donors, misinterpreting the donation as a form of bribery, and asking the reasons for the sum being deposited into a private bank account as opposed to a trust fund.

Wish to remain anonymous

There are donors who wish to remain anonymous, Tun Faisal said, hence it would be safer for them to deposit their donation into a private account.

"If the money went into a trust fund, there could be a chance that the donor's identity could be revealed to the public. There are donors who do not want to take this risk and their wishes should be respected," he said.

Besides, there is nothing suspicious about such generous donations to Najib, especially if they are billionaires from Islamic countries.

"Is it not possible that Najib got contributions from billionaires from Islamic countries who do not want the opposition to win and turn this country into a secular and socialist party?" he asked.

The money that was deposited in Najib's account is merely a donation, he stressed, as donations would only become bribes if there were favours exchanged.

Tun Faisal also addressed questions surrounding certain events related to the 1MDB probes.

First, he spoke about the ousting of former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin ( photo ) from the cabinet last Tuesday.

"If it was true that RM2.6 billion was deposited into Najib's account, why was Muhyiddin fired? He wasn't fired, he was dropped because he could no longer work as a team," he clarified.

Then he explained that the recent investigations into the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is due to reports from the public including himself about members of the 1MDB special task force possibly leaking information.

"This was to stop any speculation made before the probes were completed, as they might affect the economy and stability of the country," he said.

Tun Faisal further talked about the recent comments from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( photo ) who said he had passed everything he held in trust to his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when he stepped down as Umno president.

"This means that the money wasn't in the party account but in the account of the trustees," he said.

The probes into Najib's account by the 1MDB task force isn't over yet, he added, but what is now clear is that the money that Mahathir and other critics claimed to be missing was not missing in the first place, let alone deposited into Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor's accounts.

"Learn to accept this fact," he said.

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