MP SPEAKS | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak seems to be writing his own statements, which is probably why he is making the most elementary of mistakes, which his highly-paid professional propagandists would not make.

Najib alleged that I had claimed that Kevin Morais' murder was connected to 1MDB.

I have never made such an allegation, and I challenge Najib to quote chapter and verse from any of my statements in the past where I had made such an allegation.

Apart from myself, Najib has probably the most complete archives of my previous statements, going back years and decades.

Najib also alleged that he had been accused of playing a role in the death of Teoh Beng Hock, the former aide to Ean Yong Hian Wah, a member of the Selangor legislative assembly and executive council.

I had never said it, but I will say it now: Najib did not kill Teoh, but the Najib administration must be held responsible for Teoh’s death.

Thanks to Najib’s premiership, Malaysia was trapped in a trajectory not only of a rogue democracy but was heading towards a rogue state, where:

A Mongolian model could be murdered by two members of the Police Unit Tindakan Khas, who were convicted of the murder without any attempt by the authorities to establish the motive of the murder;
A DAP political aide could lose his life involving a ridiculous corruption allegation against a DAP Selangor executive councillor involving an amount less than RM2,500 while the prime minister could get away scot-free for an international corruption and money-laundering scandal which is 20 million times greater than RM2,500;
A Christian pastor could be mysteriously abducted and then disappear into thin air for 20 months;
Najib’s comrade-in-arms in the 1MDB scandal and who had been dubbed “real second finance minister” or even “real deputy prime minister”, Jho Low, could traverse the world with impunity as an international fugitive from justice; and
Where the rule of law was bastardised into a personal rule by the prime minister.

During Najib’s tenure, the MACC degenerated into an anti-corruption agency for a global kleptocracy instead of being an anti-corruption agency of a leading nation of integrity.

Now, the MACC must prove that it is an anti-corruption agency of a leading nation of integrity and no more an anti-corruption agency of a global kleptocracy.

In April 2017, I issued a statement asking whether Malaysia had become a rogue state with the spate of missing persons which included Pastor Raymond Koh (photo below), Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth, and Perlis Hope activist Amri Che Mat.

It is highly regrettable that during the 15 months when they were in power and before the historic decision of the 14th general election on May 9, 2018, which ousted them from Putrajaya, neither Najib nor any BN minister/leader showed any interest in the case of the missing pastors!

I shudder to think what Malaysia would have become today, which is exactly five months from the historic day of May 9, if Najib had continued as prime minister, especially with the help of the “kingmaker” PAS MPs.

It is most lucky that against all expectations and opinion of established pollsters, Malaysian voters regardless of race, religion and region united to save Malaysia from a rogue democracy, kakistocracy, a rogue state and a global kleptocracy.

The nation is now on a mend to restore the integrity, professionalism, independence and impartiality of key national institutions – including the MACC, which must regain national and international respect as an anti-corruption commission of a leading nation of integrity and not that of a global kleptocracy.

I had in fact asked in a statement in April 2016 whether, after the Teoh Beng Hock outrage and tragedy, the MACC was determined that it would never again become a political pawn to persecute the opposition?

The MACC failed to accomplish this sacred task from April 2016 to May 2018 – but with the peaceful and democratic transition of federal power on May 9, my question is as relevant and pertinent as ever, even though the opposition has now become Umno and the BN parties, as well as PAS.

MACC must not be a political pawn of the Pakatan Harapan government to harass and persecute Umno/BN/PAS leaders on questionable grounds as the MACC must not be contaminated by partisan politics in its war against corruption.

This is a political philosophy which Najib will never understand – which is why his credibility has plummeted to an unprecedented low for any Malaysian political leader, whether past or living.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has been summoned to the MACC. The MACC must not act as an instrument of repression and persecution of the Harapan government.

If Zahid is a victim of persecution and repression as happened to Harapan leaders under the previous administration, I am prepared to speak up for him.

But if Zahid is hauled up by the MACC because of its genuine anti-corruption agenda, that would be a separate matter.

I can only think of the biblical saying, “Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?” when Najib asked Malaysians to look at facts and not at DAP propaganda.

Had he forgotten the lies and falsehoods which he and Umno had told about the DAP and myself, that if Harapan replaced BN in the 14th general election, that I would become the prime minister, Malaysia would become a Christian state with Christianity replacing Islam as official religion (although I am not even a Christian myself) and that the Malay Rulers would be abolished and Malaysia turned into a republic?

A final question for Najib – what is his response to the disclosure by the chairperson of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) Daim Zainuddin that there are moles in the country’s administration who are helping the Jho Low to evade arrest, and that Low was spending more than US$40 million on legal fees alone?

LIM KIT SIANG is the MP for Iskandar Puteri.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.