Salleh has lost the right to demand answers when he, as Minister for Communications and Multimedia, failed to answer numerous questions about government scandals and failings

Recently, the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak indulged in spree of questions directed at the Opposition, Pakatan Harapan and PPBM.

It is a pity that Salleh did not realise that he has lost the right to ask questions when as Minister for Communications and Multimedia, which included the role and responsibility of the former Ministry of Information, he had failed to answer numerous questions about government scandals and failings.

If there is any Ministry which is assigned the responsibility of defending the government, it is Salleh’s Ministry, but realizing that much as he wanted, he is just incapable of defending the indefensible, Salleh is subtly trying to transform his Ministerial portfolio of answering questions on behalf of the government into one of asking questions about the Opposition.

In terms of Ministerial KPIs, Salleh is a big flop.

If Salleh expects answers to his questions, let him perform his Ministerial duty to answer questions about government scandals and failings, starting with the following five:

Question One: why the government’s conspiracy of silence over the international multi-billion dollar 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal when there is breaking news all over the world several times a week for the past many months about it.

Last Friday, for instance, a second banker in Singapore was jailed in connection with the 1MDB money-laundering investigations in Singapore.

In Thailand, a Swiss IT expert, Xavier Justo, jailed for three years last August for attempting to blackmail his former employer PetroSaudi International, a Abu Dhabi oil firm involved in the 1MDB money-laundering dealings, is expected to be able to celebrate Christmas with his family in Switzerland as he is among the thousands of Thai and foreigners granted a royal pardon by the new Thai king, Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradevarangkun.

Early this week, a US federal judge in Los Angeles, California rejected a move by family members of Penang billionaire Jho Low to claim assets seized by the US government in its probe into the international 1MDB kleptocratic money-laundering scandal.

But there is only thundering silence in Malaysia, the home of international 1MDB kleptocratic scandal. Can Salleh answer: Who is “MO1”?

Question Two: Can Salleh explain and justify the shameful conduct of the Malaysian Parliament and the UMNO General Assembly in failing their national responsibility to rebut and refute Malaysia’s international ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a “global kleptocracy”?

This would not have happened under the first four Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak (Najib’s father), Tun Hussein and Tun Mahathir who led the Federal Government in the first 46 years of the nation’s history.

In the eighties, the father of Independence and Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman worked with DAP for a more democratic, clean and responsible government.

Tun Razak would have no truck with any kleptocracy, and all Malaysians should know of the “swimming pool” story told by Nazir, the younger brother of the Prime Minister, to illustrate how his father, Tun Razak, was selfless in his dedication to nation-building and feared the corruption of absolute power.

Nazir illustrated Razak’s frugality and integrity with the “swimming pool” episode, recounting the failed attempt of the Razak children to ask their father for a swimming pool to be built at Seri Taman, the Prime Minister’s residence, and the “lecture” they received from Razak about the important distinction between public office and private use.

Razak told his children that anything spent on the proposed swimming pool in the Prime Minister’s residence would have to come from public funds, and there was no way he was going to allow the state coffers to be depleted on something as frivolous as a swimming pool.

Tun Razak was concerned about “what the people would think” if he used public funds to build a swimming pool in his official residence for the use of his children, but his son, Najib, as the sixth Prime Minister, was not perturbed as to what the world would think with Malaysia dubbed as a global kleptocracy!

What a difference between the father and the son.

Tun Hussein’s commitment to fight corruption is legendary, which can be testified by his son, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein – but again, what a difference between the father and the son.

Tun Mahathir’s opposition to the 1MDB scandal needs no introduction.

Clearly, the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia is doing something which the first four Prime Ministers would never dreamt of doing – in allowing Malaysia to be regarded world-wide as a global kleptocracy.

Can Salleh explain why?

Third Question: Was Najib or UMNO/BN government responsible for the expensive, glossy and multi-coloured 20-page publication, entitled “1MDB PASCA LAPORAN AUDIT NEGARA DAN PAC – SAMAN DOJ (JABATAN KEHAKIMAN AMERIKA SYARIKAT) MERAGUKAN” distributed as an anonymous booklet at the UMNO General Assembly?

The booklet raised doubts as to whether “MO1” was the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak although a senior Cabinet Minister had identified “MO1” as Najib in a BBC interview.

The booklet even alleged that the biggest US DOJ kleptocratic lawsuits to forfeit US$1 billion 1MDB-linked assets in the United States, United Kingdom and Switzerland was the result of complaints lodged by former UMNO leader Datuk Khairuddin Abdul Hassan.

Are the questions, assumptions and assertions made in the 1MDB booklet distributed anonymously at the recent UMNO General Assembly the official positions of the UMNO/BN government, and if not so, why the booklet was allowed to be distributed at the UMNO General Assembly?

Fourth Question: Why the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had acted in a most irresponsible manner when through his UMNO Presidential Speech on Nov. 30, he launched a Nazi-style “Big Lies” propaganda offensive against the political opposition, plunging Malaysian politics into an era of fake news, false cartoons and fake allegations.

One such UMNO Nazi-style “Big Lie” propaganda is the allegation that DAP and myself are anti-Malay and anti-Islam and that if UMNO loses the 14th GE, the Malays will lose political power to the Chinese who will dominate politics in Malaysia.

I have been in politics for 51 years. Can Salleh cite or uncover a single instance or example in my more than half a century of political life to substantiate the UMNO falsehoods that DAP and I are anti-Malay and anti-Islam?

Or will Salleh accept that the inability of the UMNO Government and leadership to cite any such instance as the strongest proof of DAP’s commitment for more than half a century to the Malaysian Dream of a nation for all Malaysians regardless of race or religion – and that the DAP is not anti-Malay or anti-Islam?

Another example of UMNO Nazi-style “Big Lie?” propaganda is the fake Cabinet line-up on the social media entitled “Barisan Kerajaan Baru 2017 – Pakatan Harapan DAP/PKR/PAN/PPBM”, with me as Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Tun Mahathir Mohamad as Deputy Prime Minister, PKR President Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Ismail as Woman and Family Development Minister, Amanah President Mohamad Sabu as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of “Agama Islam & Hubungan Antara Agama” and President of PPBM, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of “Integrasi Nasional & Pengurusan Prestasi”.

The whole objective of the fake Cabinet line-up was to buttress the Nazi-style propaganda offensive of lies and falsehoods that the DAP is the “master” and the other parties, PKR, Amanah and PPBM, are subordinates, stooges or subservient to DAP.

Another false cartoon of such Nazi-style “Big Lie” propaganda portrayed the DAP as the “master agent” directing PKR, Amanah and PPBM for a mastermind – financier George Soros.

This is the reason for the circulation of fake cartoon, entitled “War of PRU 14”, picturing financier George Soros as the mastermind funding all the Opposition parties in Malaysia, with me representing DAP as Soros’ chief agent yelling “READY TO ATTACK” while directing Azizah of PKR, Sabu of AMANAH and Tun Mahathir of PPBM to go to “war”.

Is Salleh prepared to denounce such Nazi-style “Big Lie” falsehoods and fake cartoons against the political opposition?

Fifth Question: Will the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 be the second international infamy which Malaysians have to suffer in the year 2016, after being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocracy?

Can Salleh explain why the Malaysian government tried to cheat in PISA 2015, regarded as the world’s school report, resulting in Malaysia’s exclusion and disqualification from the official PISA 2015 rankings – one of three countries to suffer such shame and ignominy in PISA 2015?

This is the first tranche of questions Salleh will have to answer before he could restore his right to ask questions and expect answers.