Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has vowed to make Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his family, and their associate Low Taek Jho, return the funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

He said this during a forum in Putrajaya today, when he was asked by a member of the audience how a Pakatan Harapan-led government seek to reduce government debt.

Mahathir suggested that recovering 1MDB funds would be a low-hanging fruit, particularly funds that had been seized by foreign governments.

“There’s some in America, some in Singapore, some in Switzerland, and some in Luxembourg. We can ask to have the money back.

“But some of the money is with Najib, with (his wife) Rosmah Mansor, with Low, and with (Najib’s stepson) Riza Aziz. For these people, we will squeeze them until money falls out of them,” he said, drawing laughter from the audience.

Najib, Rosmah, Riza, and Low had all been implicated in the 1MDB scandal. However, they have each denied wrongdoing, and attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had also cleared Najib of any misconduct. 

In addition, 1MDB had denied that its money has been misappropriated and insists that all its money is accounted for. 

Meanwhile, Mahathir said Harapan aims to recover at least three-quarters of the RM42 billion that 1MDB had borrowed to improve the country’s finances.

“Some of it (the debt) can be recovered, some of it would be difficult to recover in a short time […]

“So it’s easier with 1MDB funds. But the rest would have to be renegotiated whether to terminate the project, or reduce the price and impose other conditions,” he said.

As an example, he said, the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project would be reviewed on whether it is still necessary.

If not, he said parts of the rail line that have not started work may be abandoned.