Is it out of selfish political interests that Liow Tiong Lai and the MCA’s 7/11 team of elected representatives are so protective of Najib’s twin RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals?

MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should explain why the MCA’s 7/11 team of elected representatives (seven MPs and 11 State Assemblymen) successful in the 13th General Election are so protective of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals.

Is the MCA’s over-protectiveness of Najib’s financial scandals a shield actually to protect the selfish political interests of the MCA leaders and to fob off any demands to cut down the number Ministerial and deputy ministerial posts given to MCA?

As it is, MCA already has three Ministers and four deputy Ministers (although three of the deputy ministers are senators).

As MCA President, Liow should explain why the MCA team in government had been completely silent and passive as far as the issues and principles of accountability, transparency and good governance are concerned.

Good examples are Najib’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals.

In fact, a former MCA Deputy Minister had flayed the MCA Ministers for “sleepwalking in Cabinet”, urging them to “pull their heads out of the clouds”, to address critical issues faced by the people.

In July this year, Liow had relied on the multi-agency Special Task Force comprising representatives from Bank Negara Malaysia, the Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Attorney-General’s Chambers to justify the silence and inaction of the MCA Ministers.

Liow said the special task force set up by Putrajaya to investigate corruption claims surrounding 1MDB should be proof enough that the government, just like the .public, is serious in seeking the truth.

Asked by the media whether Najib should publicly declare his assets after US-based business paper The Wall Street Journal claimed some RM2.6 billion of 1MDB money had been deposited into his personal accounts, Liow said the public should remain calm and allow the task force do its job.

It is now more than a month since the special task force investigating the 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals had been dissolved, after the sacking of Tan Sri Gani Patail as Attorney-General and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Deputy Prime Minister.

The public are serious in wanting to seek the truth about the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals, but not the Umno/BN government.

Has Liow or the other two MCA Ministers ever queried in Cabinet why the special task force had been dissolved before it could complete its investigations into 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation scandals, and to find out who was now responsible for investigating into these two scandals?

It is time that the MCA leadership should make its stand clear, whether they agree that Najib should let the nation and the world know who was the foreign donor, how much was actually deposited into Najib’s personal banking accounts, and who were the Barisna Nasional Ministers and MPs who received funding from Najib’s personal accounts for the 13th General Election campaign.

Would Liow lead the MCA’s team of seven elected MPs (including three Ministers and one Deputy Minister as the other three MCA Deputy Ministers are all Senators) to publicly announce whether they have received funding from Najib’s personal accounts for the 13th general election campaign, and if so, the amount of funding they received.

The seven MCA elected MPs, comprising three Ministers and one deputy minister, will be doing something path-breaking in the larger national interest if they dare to set such an example of accountability, transparency and good governance, instead of just surviving on their parasitic role.

As Parliament is reconvening on 19th Oct, all Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs should observe the rule to first declare whether they have received funding from Najib’s RM2.6 billion personal banking account in the 13GE campaign, and if so, how much, before they first speak in Parliament.

Lim Kit Siang DAP Parliamentary Leader & MP for Gelang Patah