The Bagan MP said his parliamentary question, posed to Prime Minister Najib Razak, was rejected on the basis that the Swiss prosecutor’s statement was an “assumption.”
“I asked about the USD4 billion revelation made by the Swiss AG and if it involved government-owned companies. I also asked as to the form of assistance provided by Bank Negara or any other government agency to the Swiss authorities and what actions had been taken to recover the money.
“But the question was rejected because according to Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, the basis of the question was an assumption.
“This is not a revelation made by an ordinary person. It is the Swiss AG. Obviously it was not an assumption,” Lim said to reporters at the lobby of Parliament here today.
The Penang chief minister added that he had requested for the decision to be reviewed as it was a matter pertaining to public interest. The response given by the Speaker was for him to raise the question during this afternoon’s debate session instead.
“We worry that because of the Speaker’s decision, other government reps will use the same excuse, saying that the question was invalid as it was an assumption.
“But this question must be answered as it involves a huge sum of money,” said Lim, adding that he would ask for the assistance of other Pakatan Harapan MPs to ensure that the question would be answered during today’s debate session.
The Swiss AG had, in January this year, said its investigation into state-owned investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) found that nearly USD4 billion had been “misappropriated” by the Malaysian government.
It said the misappropriated money was intended for the “economic and social development of Malaysia.”
“Authorities discovered a small portion of the fund has been transferred to Swiss bank accounts of Malaysian and United Arab Emirates officials,” the AG was quoted as saying by CNN.