Ku Li won't take sides in Dr M-Najib battle

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Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has reiterated he is impartial when it comes to the duel between former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The Umno veteran said he is, however, siding with the party and will back Umno as long as its decisions do not breach the law.

“I don’t support anyone. I am an Umno member and I am with my party. How can I support someone who is no longer with the party, even if we may share the same views?

“I will consider what Umno decides. I cannot support it if it goes against the law because as a parliamentarian, I have taken an oath to defend the federal constitution. I cannot support untruths,” he is reported by Sinar Harian today saying.

Tengku Razaleigh earlier said he cannot support Mahathir because he is an Umno man, and Mahathir is no longer in Umno .

Tengku Razaleigh last October joined Mahathir in condemning the use of the Security Offences and Special Measures Act (Sosma) on now ex-Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chong, for lodging reports against 1MDB with international agencies.

DAP also claims the country’s longest serving MP had last August distributed a statutory declaration for MPs to sign to declare their withdrawal of support for Najib.

Tengku Razaleigh denies this.

'Wait for GE'

In the Sinar report, Tengku Razaleigh maintained the best way to change the PM is through the general elections.

“According to the constitution, a prime minister can only be stripped of the title through Parliament.

“If someone is able to convince (MPs) and the majority do not want Najib, then a motion can be brought to the Dewan Rakyat.

“Then the Agong will have to change the prime minister or the government. But the best way to do it is to wait for the general election,” he was quoted saying.

He was also asked his views on 1MDB, following the tabling of the public accounts committee (PAC) report on the troubled state investment firm.

He said he reserves judgement until the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB is tabled.

“This is a matter of truth and I hold on to the truth. Right now, we don’t know what the (auditor-general’s) report says because it is still secret under the Official Secrets Act (OSA),” he said.

Opposition MPs on the PAC have complained about the auditor-general’s report being classified under the OSA, which they say is against convention.

PAC chief Hasan Ariffin, who had earlier said the auditor-general’s report on 1MDB will be declassified and be tabled along with the PAC report, is however now silent on the matter.



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