Lim Guan Eng has little knowledge about legal principles


Since he accuses the MCA of receiving 1MDB money, he must prove his allegations. The onus is on the prosecution or the accuser to prove the guilt of the accused in a legal process. This is a basic legal knowledge that he should understand.

Wee Ka Siong, Malaysiakini

The strong reactions and anger shown by Lim Guan Eng towards the feature article “Wee wins respect as opposition MP” in the Sunday Star issue of Jan 6 shocks me.

If he had read through the Q and A content carefully, he would not have accused the MCA of receiving 1MDB funds.

In fact, he has assumed that the election funds of RM16.5 million handed to MCA’s previous president Dr Chua Soi Lek by Najib Abdul Razak belonged to 1MDB.

Lim, as finance minister, should know that there is a law governing banking secrecy. Under the Financial Services Act 2013, MCA will have no right to tell a bank to disclose the origin of Najib’s money given to MCA in 2013 for election purposes.

From Lim’s statements, I can sense he has little knowledge about legal principles.

Since he accuses the MCA of receiving 1MDB money, he must prove his allegations. The onus is on the prosecution or the accuser to prove the guilt of the accused in a legal process. This is a basic legal knowledge that he should understand.

It should also be noted that MACC has launched a probe into 1MDB since Pakatan Harapan took over the federal administration.

Lim should allow MACC to carry out its duties independently and to report the progress of its investigation.

If Lim possesses proof of MCA accepting funds from 1MDB, or suspects that MCA is involved in corruption beyond what MACC has collected during its eight-month-long investigation, he should lodge reports with the police and MACC.

Do not behave like an MACC officer while the rakyat expect you to get your act together and focus on your tasks as the finance minister.

We know Lim is only doing so to shift people’s attention away from his bullying behaviour towards Tunku Abdul Rahman University College, Pakatan Harapan’s failure in getting the Unified Education Certificate recognised and the increasingly weak economy.

I promise that MCA, under my leadership, will give its full cooperation to the authorities on the 1MDB investigation, even though the alleged transfer of funds happened before I took over the helm of the party.


WEE KA SIONG is MCA president and MP for Ayer Hitam, Johor.

 



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