Calling it a farce, Anwar criticised RCI chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan’s reply to his lawyer on Wednesday, over the need for him to appear before the commission.
“I am astonished that the chairman replied that they have ‘yet to decide’ whether to call me.
“It would be farcical if this enquiry is concluded without hearing my testimony,” Anwar said in a statement today.
“Considering that I was the finance minister at the material time, it cannot be very difficult to make this decision.”
Anwar, who was finance minister from 1991 until he was sacked from the government by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998, said it was imperative for him to testify because “there have been repeated references made to me in the course of the evidence so far recorded”.
He questioned if the RCI truly intended to get to the truth of the matter of the forex losses, when they were still undecided on calling him or Mahathir.
“They must know that the best way to get to the truth would be to allow material and critical witnesses like myself and Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister at the time, to testify.
“The proper function and purpose of the RCI is not to draw premature conclusions or cast aspersions upon anyone, but to establish the truth,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced the RCI to look into BNM’s forex losses in the 1990s on June 21, on the recommendation of a special task force.
Sidek, who was also the chairman of that task force, had said its investigation found that “the figure is greater than what was disclosed” and that an RCI would be able to uncover more.
The task force was set up after Abdul Murad Khalid, who was the BNM deputy governor then, revealed earlier this year that BNM had suffered US$10 billion in foreign exchange market losses in the early 1990s, much higher than the figure of RM9 billion disclosed by BNM.
Anwar had last week criticised Murad for incriminating him in his testimony on the first day of the RCI on Aug 21.
“I have read the witness statement of Murad, where at paragraph 37, he alleges that on a flight to Hawaii in early 1994, he briefed me on the BNM forex losses and that I had said that if those losses were made public, I would have to resign as finance minister.
“His malicious insinuation is clear, that is, that I had implied a cover-up was needed.
“That allegation is false. I never said that to him. I should stress that there was no need for me to say such a thing to a functionary like Murad who was sent by then BNM governor Jaffar Hussein to brief me on technical aspects of the accounting done by BNM and the contents of their annual report,” Anwar said, stressing that he had dealt directly with Jaffar at all other times.
“I would consider it quite unjust if other witnesses are allowed to make prejudicial allegations against me in front of the commission and I am not allowed to make my response to them in the same manner.”
The following is the RCI’s scope of inquiry on the forex losses:
- To determine the authenticity of the allegation on the foreign exchange losses suffered by BNM in the 1990s and its implications on the national economy;
- To determine whether BNM’s involvement in the foreign exchange activities which caused the losses contradicted with the Central Bank Ordinance 1958 or any relevant laws;
- To determine whether there were elements of hidden facts and information relating to foreign exchange losses suffered by BNM and misleading statements given to the cabinet, Parliament and the public;
- To recommend suitable actions to be the taken against those found to be directly and/or indirectly involved in causing the losses and hiding the facts and information on the losses, and;
- To recommend appropriate measures to ensure the incident will not recur.