It is better for BN cabinet members to resign over 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion donation received by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak than to quit over hudud, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said.
He said the same chest-thumping seen among cabinet members over the bill to amend Act 355 by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was absent over the ongoing 1MDB and donation saga.
This, despite the auditor-general confirming that his office was unable to verify what happened to the US$7 billion of 1MBD transactions, assets and cash held overseas, he said.
“If these BN leaders really mean their quit threats (over hudud), then why haven’t they similarly threatend to quit over the... 1MDB (and) Najib-donation scandals?
“Are MCA, Gerakan, MIC, Upko, SUPP and PBB more than happy to continue supporting a prime minister who has been directly accused of siphoning billions of dollars from the Finance Ministry subsidiary, 1MDB?” he asked in a statement.
“Malaysia is now a renowned kleptocracy in the world. If these chest-thumping BN leaders do not quit over the theft of billions of dollars from the Malaysian taxpayers, then their threats to resign (over hudud) are clearly just for show to minimise the damage caused by the dalliance between Umno and PAS,” he said.
The quit threats are not credible as Gerakan and MCA threatened to quit before, but still joined the cabinet after the 13th general election, he said.
Ministers including MIC president Dr S Subramaniam and MCA president Liow Tiong Lai have threatened to quit cabinet if the bill by Hadi is passed by Parliament.
The bill is dubbed the ‘Hudud Bill’, as it aims to amend Act 355 to raise the threshold of penalties which can be meted out by syariah courts, paving the way for implementing hudud in Kelantan.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said tabled a motion to allow Hadi’s Private Member’s Bill to be tabled ahead of government business last Thursday.
However, Hadi requested that it be tabled in the next session in October as it was the tail-end of the last day of the Dewan Rakyat session.
Pua said if the ministers were truly against the bill, they should have opposed Azalina’s motion to prioritise it in the House, instead of leaving that to opposition MPs.
Among those who opposed Azalina’s motion were Anthony Loke (DAP-Seremban) and Khalid Samad (Amanah-Shah Alam).
“Or is all the brouhaha merely just an afterthought, a show to placate a shocked electorate who has lost total confidence in these BN component parties to protect their rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution?” he asked.
