Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that action will be taken against his predecessor Najib Abdul Razak for breaking embargo and publishing the Felda White Paper on his Facebook page yesterday.

“This is a serious matter because he is not a novice elected representative, he was once a prime minister.

“By not taking rules into account, he has published a paper that was embargoed. We view this seriously and we will take action so he will be reminded that no one is above parliamentary rules,” he told a press conference in Parliament today.

Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said earlier that he had put forward a motion for the Dewan Rakyat speaker to take action against the Pekan MP for breaking the embargo.

"Earlier today, I submitted a motion suggesting stern action taken against Pekan.

"It was a huge mistake," he told reporters, adding that the document was supposed to be embargoed until it was presented in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Yesterday evening, Najib uploaded a snapshot of the White Paper and revealed that a "put option" was included in Felda's purchase of a 37 percent stake in Indonesia's Eagle High Plantations.

This followed Felda lodging a police report over the US$505.4 million (RM2.07 billion) transaction allegedly 'forced' on the agency by Najib when he served as prime minister, which caused it to lose billions.

Najib insisted that the put option clause in the deal would enable Felda to regain its full investment, on top of a return of six percent per annum.

Azmin has since clarified that Felda did try to exercise the option, but that the seller refused to comply and took the agency to court for arbitration.

While wrapping up the presentation of the Felda White Paper, the economic minister also 'attacked' Najib for not being in the Dewan Rakyat when the matter was being debated.

The BN lawmaker was "not man enough" to face him in Parliament, he said.

Najib later attributed his absence to having to attend court proceedings "almost every day" this week.

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