Kit Siang wants Dr M to head royal panel probe on 1MDB

(Malay Mail Online) – Following calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the alleged irregularities in 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) deals, Lim Kit Siang said today that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be made chairman of such a panel.

In a statement here, the DAP veteran said Dr Mahathir, now the Najib administration’s chief critic, would be a good candidate for the post, especially if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants to prove his innocence.

“I am agreeable with the proposal for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the WSJ allegation, and it would be a great idea if such a RCI is chaired by former prime minister Dr Mahathir – for it would be one great demonstration by Najib that he has nothing to hide in the long drawn-out 1MDB scandal and that he has done no wrong,” Lim said.

The RCI under Dr Mahathir should be given three months to complete its report, the lawmaker said, adding that during this period, Najib should take a leave of absence.

Dr Mahathir, 89, has emerged as Najib’s harshest critic in recent weeks with his tenacious questions about the assets of the debt-riddled 1MDB and its ability to repay its growing RM42 billion debt pile.

The man who has snuffed the political careers of two of his former protégés – his handpicked successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is currently in jail for the second time on sodomy charges – appears to have trained his sights on Najib.

Najib, however, turned the tables on Dr Mahathir last week after allegations surfaced in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that money from 1MDB had been wired into his accounts, claiming his mentor-turned-critic was likely behind the latest attack.

Earlier today, Dr Mahathir took aim again at the Najib government, saying that other world leaders would have quit and apologised over scandals like that involving 1MDB.

In Malaysia, however, the controversy has only resulted in an outpouring of support for Najib by those who fear losing their positions of power, the country’s longest serving prime minister wrote.

“The person who truly shamed the nation is Datuk Seri Najib and his 1MDB,” Dr Mahathir said.

“The country was never before been ridiculed this way by allegations that have continued to remain unanswered,” he added.