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End 'Malaysian Official 1' charade, Kit Siang tells cabinet
Published:  Aug 2, 2016 1:33 PM
Updated: 5:51 AM

Lim Kit Siang has called on the cabinet, which holds its weekly meeting tomorrow, to end the charade surrounding the identity of “Malaysian Official 1" named in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) court filings on the alleged abuse of 1MDB funds.

The DAP veteran said the cabinet should either declare that “Malaysian Official 1" is not Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or acknowledge that the latter is the person referred to in the DOJ documents.

“And to state what the government proposes to do to establish that the prime minister was not in any way involved in the global multi-billion dollar 1MDB embezzlement, money-laundering and corruption which formed the subject of the DOJ complaint, and to redeem Malaysia’s national dignity and international reputation from being stained and besmirched as one of the top kleptocracies in the world,” Lim added in a media statement.

Referring to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) questioning DAP lawmaker Tony Pua over his Facebook postings regarding this issue, Lim said the episode raised two important public interest questions.

“Firstly, whether the question ‘Who is Malaysian Official 1?’, that is mentioned 36 times in the 136-page, 513-paragraph DOJ complaint as one of the kingpins of the global multi-billion ringgit 1MDB embezzlement, money-laundering and corruption is a crime; and

“Secondly, whether speculation from the various identification given in the DOJ complaint on Malaysian Official 1 that the person referred to could only be Najib, although no name was mentioned, is a heinous crime in Malaysia?” he asked.

The Gelang Patah MP said Malaysians do not want their prime minister to be mockingly referred to as "Malaysian Official 1" or "MO1" whether in local or international circles.

Lim noted that while some two weeks had passed since the DOJ complaint, the prime minister as well as all the heads of the key national enforcement and investigative agencies have all maintained a studied silence.

“Could it be that all the top-notch chiefs of our key national institutions could not decipher who is ‘Malaysian Official 1' referred to in the DOJ complaint when ordinary Malaysians have no difficulty in identifying him?” he asked.

Quizzed on this matter following the Umno supreme council meeting last week, Najib told reporters that the party’s highest decision-making body has taken note of this.

"We noticed that (Malaysian Official 1), we noted that and the position has been explained to the public," Najib said.

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