Pesuruhjaya Tinggi Malaysia ke United Kingdom, Datuk Ahmad Rasidi Hazizi membidas majalah mingguan Britain The Economist yang didakwa menerbitkan pembohongan yang disebarkan oleh pembangkang terhadap Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

Dalam suratnya itu, Rasidi berkata artikel yang diterbitkan pada 10 Mac lalu dengan judul "Stop, thief! Malaysia's PM is about to steal an election" (Berhenti, pencuri! PM Malaysia akan curi pilihan raya) mengandungi kesilapan yang serius.

“Artikel kamu baru-baru ini mengenai Malaysia mengandungi kesilapan serius dan memperlihatkan reaksi pemikiran kolonial angkuh selain merendah-rendahkan perdana menteri, kerajaan, polis, badan kehakiman, suruhanjaya pilihan raya, media dan pengundi kami.”

Sebagai contoh, Ahmad Rasidi berkata, bahawa Jabatan Keadilan (Doj) Amerika Syarikat tidak pernah menuduh Najib menyalur keluar dana dari 1MDB.

Begitu juga, katanya, perdana menteri tidak pernah mencadangkan dana RM2.6 bilion dalam akaun peribadinya adalah "hadiah daripada peminat yang tidak dinamakan".

Malah, menurut pesuruhjaya tinggi itu, perdana menteri dan beberapa pegawai sebelum ini pernah menyatakan bahawa dana yang sebahagian besarnya sudah dikembalikan itu adalah derma daripada keluarga diraja Arab Saudi.

"Perkara itu sudah disahkan oleh Menteri Luar Arab Saudi, yang secara umum menyatakan bahawa dana itu 'sumbangan dengan tanpa apa-apa yang diharapkan sebagai balasan'. Pihak berkuasa negara berkenaan turut mempertimbangkan perkara itu ditutup," katanya.

Ahmad Rasidi juga menyelar The Economist yang mencadangkan seolah-olah proses persempadanan semula di negara ini adalah cubaan untuk menipu sistem pilihan raya.

“Untuk mencadangkan bahawa persempadanan semula pilihan raya yang dibuat bagi menampung pertambahan penduduk adalah seolah-olah cubaan untuk "menipu sistem" mendedahkan sikap dwi-standard negara-negara Barat dan seluruh dunia,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, hujah itu seolah-olah membayangkan bahawa banyak negara yang mengamalkan demokrasi adalah salah, termasuk Britain yang dijangka melakukan perubahan kawasan penting sebelum pilihan raya akan datang.

Menurut Ahmad Rasidi lagi, di Malaysia, perubahan kawasan itu dicadangkan dan dilaksanakan oleh SPR secara bebas dan kemudiannya diluluskan oleh badan perundangan.

Berikut adalah surat penuh Rasidi dalam bahasa Inggeris.

Your recent articles on Malaysia contained serious errors and reeked of an arrogant colonial mindset, disparaging our prime minister, government, police, judiciary, election commission, media and even our voters (“Stop, thief!”, “Tilting the playing field”, March 10th).

For example, America’s Department of Justice never accused Najib Abdul Razak, the prime minister, of “siphoning” off funds, nor has Mr Najib ever suggested that the funds were a “gift from an unnamed admirer”. In fact, the prime minister and numerous officials have stated that the funds - the vast majority of which were returned - were a donation from the royal family of Saudi Arabia. This has been confirmed by the Saudi foreign minister, who has publicly stated that the funds were “a genuine donation with nothing expected in return” and that the Saudi authorities consider the matter closed.

Separately, to suggest that the redrawing of electoral boundaries to account for population growth is somehow “rigging the system” reveals your double standards for Western countries and the rest of the world. Your allegation would imply that numerous democracies are guilty of the same charge, not least Britain, where significant constituency changes are expected in advance of the next election. In Malaysia, these changes were proposed and implemented by the independent Election Commission and subsequently approved by the judiciary, whose impartiality is evidenced by the fact that it frequently rules against the government and senior ministers.

Since Najib Razak took office in 2009, Malaysia’s gross national income has increased by more than 50 percent, 2.3 million jobs have been created, unemployment and inflation have been kept low and poverty reduced significantly. Indeed, the Malaysian economy is growing at such a fast rate that the World Bank had to increase its estimates for our growth three times over 2017, to 5.8 percent. The government’s plan for the economic well-being and security of Malaysia and its people is delivering.

This is the true story of Malaysia. Your reporting appears to have been based exclusively on falsehoods pushed by opposition parties and their sympathisers for political gain ahead of the coming election.

DATO’ AHMAD RASIDI HAZIZI
High commissioner of Malaysia
London