By Tony Pua
Malaysians are still up in arms over the 1MDB-IPIC “settlement” which was announced less than two weeks ago where the finance ministry had agreed to assume US$3.5 billion of 1MDB bond liabilities which were previously borne by the International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi.
The government had agreed to do so despite the fact that both 1MDB and our ministers had in the past insisted that 1MDB had already paid to IPIC’s subsidiary, British Virgin Island-registered Aabar Investment PJS Limited (“Aabar(BVI)”) a total of RM3.51 billion between 2012 and 2014.
Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani had previously said he was “very confident” of 1MDB winning the arbitration fight against IPIC.
Despite the bravado displayed, it was 1MDB which capitulated before the arbitration proceedings commenced in full, with the Malaysian parties conceding pretty much to all substantive demands from IPIC.
However, Johari denied any responsibility for the outrageous settlement terms. Instead, he shifted the blame to Prime Minister Najib Razak by pointing out that “the prime minister had made the decision for the country. That’s it,” and that the matter is now “beyond (him)”.
Johari even defended himself by revealing that there was a letter from the BVI Registrar of Companies clearly stating that Aabar(BVI) was indeed a subsidiary of IPIC.
While the existence of such a presumably legitimate letter still does not in itself prove that Aabar(BVI) isn’t a fraudulent set up, it does highlight the fact that the government’s decision defies all logic.
After all, why would the government then under all rational circumstances, concede to the demands of IPIC if there was nothing incriminating on the part of 1MDB? As the Malay proverb goes, there must be “udang di sebalik batu”.
This was the reason for my call for the newly-appointed auditor-general and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to re-look into the 1MDB scandal in the light of the latest developments.
I certainly wasn’t the only one asking for a review. Even Barisan Nasional MPs in the PAC, Marcus Mojigoh of Putatan, who asked for the above letter to be presented, and Aziz Sheikh Fadzir of Kulim Bandar Baru, who asked where the payments to Aabar(BVI) went, are keen to obtain answers.
However, instead of responding to requests by multiple parties to re-open the inquiry, the PAC chairman Hasan Arifin has remained as quiet as a mouse. In fact, not only has he not released any statement on an issue of such importance, involving more than RM15 billion of taxpayers’ funds, he has been avoiding media enquiries like the plague.
I have been informed that he has refused to pick up phone calls, text messages or emails from journalists with regard to the above.
Hasan’s lack of action is certainly consistent with his track record of covering up for the Najib administration – when he refused to summon the prime minister to the PAC as a witness, saying that he has to “cari makan”, and when he secretly and unilaterally amended the finalised PAC Report which was tabled in Parliament.
However, the fact that the loss of US$3.51 billion is staring at Malaysian faces today deserves at the very least, an acknowledgement from the PAC chairman, the very institution conceived to check and scrutinise government-related expenditure.
If Hasan cannot bring himself to, or can’t be bothered to perform his parliamentary and constitutionally entrusted role, he should have the moral decency to resign from his position.
He should give way to someone who is at least somewhat serious about integrity, accountability and being answerable to Malaysians.
Tony Pua is Petaling Jaya Utara MP and DAP National Publicity Secretary.
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