DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has challenged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to declare Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak unsuited to be an election candidate due to the 1MDB scandal.

This comes after Najib’s announcement that BN has submitted a partial list of its 14th general election candidates to the MACC for vetting, and would send more as more candidates have been decided on.

In a statement today, the Gelang Patah MP questioned whether Najib is on the list submitted to the MACC, and whether MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad would recommend that Najib is not suitable as an election candidate.

“Let Dzulkifli declare whether he dares to recommend that Najib is not suitable as a BN candidate for the 14th general election as Najib had single-handedly turned Malaysia into a global kleptocracy.

“This is something which the five previous Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi have never done in over half a century of premiership.

“If Dzulkifli or the MACC dare not make such a declaration in such circumstances, what is the use of the MACC screening or vetting the potential candidates from the various parties for the forthcoming 14th general election?” Lim said.

Najib, who once headed 1MDB’s board of advisors, is among those implicated in the scandal afflicting the state investment fund.

However, attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali has cleared Najib of wrongdoing following an investigation by the MACC.