Lim Kit Siang has renewed his challenge to caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak on the latter's claim the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on 1MDB absolved him of wrongdoing.

“I renew my offer to Najib to name the place, date and time for me to attend a public event and suffer public humiliation when he reads out the chapter and verse in the PAC report clearing him.

“I do not expect Najib to respond for he is not so stupid as not to know that he had created fake news which I could easily expose during my public confrontation with Najib,” he added.

The DAP veteran pointed out that he emailed Najib on the matter on March 25, but there has been no response to date.

“Why was there absolute silence from Najib in the past four weeks to my email to name the place, date and time for him to read out the chapter and verse in the PAC report which cleared him – unless his claim is untrue and nothing but fake news?” he added in a statement this afternoon.

Lim was responding to Najib criticising DAP for dropping veteran Dr Tan Seng Giaw as an election candidate because of his remark regarding the PAC report.

However, the incumbent Gelang Patah MP asked how does the caretaker prime minister know this was the reason eight-term incumbent Kepong MP was dropped.

Tan compares Najib's 1MDB-link to Anwar in 1998

In an interview with Berita Daily yesterday, Tan said he was now being labelled a “running dog and traitor” by DAP supporters because of his remark there was no sufficient evidence to link Najib to the 1MDB scandal.

“Now they are calling me a running dog, in Malay 'anjing suruhan'. What have I done wrong? By speaking the truth? They say I received Najib's money, I must be a billionaire now,” he added.

Tan, who was a PAC deputy chairperson, said he had read auditor-general's report on 1MDB several times and did not find evidence of Najib's involvement.

“What do you want me to say? That Najib is guilty?

“Please. How can you say someone is guilty when there is no proof? What happens to the 'innocent until proven guilty' (principle)?” he asked.

The auditor's report has been classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), prompting the opposition to claim the Najib administration wants to conceal facts and repeatedly called for the report to be made public.

Tan also compared the issue to when Anwar Ibrahim was sacked on the grounds of alleged abuse of power and sexual misconduct in 1998.

“I feel the same about Anwar. I feel that he was unfairly treated and there was no concrete proof of his misdeeds. Now the person who implicated Anwar is with the opposition.

“Why can we say that Anwar is not guilty but say that Najib is guilty? Where is the proof? That is all I am asking,” he added.

'Country is not going bankrupt'

Tan also dismissed former premier and Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that Malaysia is going bankrupt.

“I am telling you the truth because I find out the truth myself.

“During the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forum last year which I attended, I received a report on Malaysia and I read it. After Singapore, it is Malaysia and in South East Asia our rank is quite high.

“Last month in Jakarta during the IMF conference they said the same thing. I purposely asked them, don’t you think the 1MDB scandal will drive Malaysia towards bankruptcy? They replied, ‘There is no such thing’.

“This is an international organisation. They don't owe us a living. Is IMF telling us a lie?” he asked.

Najib has denied abusing public funds for personal gain and has also been cleared of any wrongdoing by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali.

He also blamed the allegations concerning 1MDB on a conspiracy by Mahathir and those aligned to the former premier to topple him from power.

However, Mahathir and the opposition have accused the authorities of a cover-up.