Several ‘unhappy’ Umno lawmakers held secret meetings with Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua to discuss the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, the DAP parliamentarian claims.

 

Pua, who has been vocal in highlighting alleged irregularities in the state investment fund’s finances and operations, told a public talk last night that he met the Umno MPs and handed them documents related to the issue.

 

“Maybe they felt that 1MDB’s excesses are too much. Or maybe they felt, ‘Wow, there is so much money and I want a cut’. I don’t know.

 

“But what we know is that no one has any confidence left in the prime minister,” Pua ( photo ) told an audience of more than 200 people at a Serdang community hall.

 

Approached by reporters later, Pua said the meetings took place over the past five months and all of the Umno MPs he met were backbenchers. However, he declined to divulge further details.

 

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has been meeting with Umno members around the country to allay concerns about 1MDB and to counter his predecessor Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s attacks against him, and has often received a strong show of support at such events.

 

This followed an earlier round of closed-door meetings with Umno’s Youth, Wanita and Puteri wings, where 1MDB was among the issues discussed.

Mahathir dug own hole

 

During his talk, Pua said Umno members are powerless to topple Najib from his premiership because Mahathir, during his tenure, had already undermined any institution that posed a threat to his 22-year rule.

 

“But today, Mahathir has to eat his own medicine. He cannot defeat Najib today because there is nothing, no mechanism, to bring Najib down,” he said.

 

The two-hour talk saw Pua explaining the background to the 1MDB scandal and how tycoon Low Taek Jho had allegedly siphoned money from 1MDB’s investments.

Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli of PKR, who was also present, explained the implications of 1MDB’s RM42 billion debt.

 

The talk appeared to be well received, with members of the audience staying until the end of the talk at 11pm, and some even listening from outside the hall because the venue was full.