QUESTION TIME In my small circle of friends and family, everyone thinks that Prime Minister Najib Razak should step down over that RM2.6 billion, now by some accounts revised to RM4.2 billion, donation that went into his personal bank accounts.

Why? None of them believes that story about the “donation” coming from rich Saudi Arabian benefactors who are so impressed by what Najib is doing that they gave him RM2.6 billion to do with it what he pleases.

Just like former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who expressed grave doubts over the generosity of Arabs who he tapped for funds before quite unsuccessfully, they are more inclined to believe that the money somehow or other came from 1Malaysia Development Bhd or 1MDB, our sick, self-styled strategic development company.

But if indeed that “donation” did come from the Saudi Arabian royal family and no link could be established between the giving of the money and any specific action that Najib took in relation to that money, does it mean Najib should stay on as prime minister?

No matter what the legal position, from a moral and ethical point of view the answer has to be a clear “no!” because by taking that money - and admittedly a very large amount at that - the prime minister has irreversibly compromised his position by making himself subject to undue influence...