An opposition parliamentarian today accused cabinet members of being more interested in protecting their ministerial positions following Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's demand they resign if they were not with him on 1MDB.

In his statement, DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua said they were silenced by Najib's threat - rather than being critical on 1MDB to protect the billions of Malaysian taxpayers’ funds invested in it.

"Why were there absolutely no questions asked by any cabinet member, as disclosed by Tourism Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz ?” he queried.

"Was it because they understood perfectly the proposed 'restructuring plan' which was tabled and hence there was no necessity to question?

"Or was it because they were intimidated by Najib’s less than subtle threat asking ‘… if somehow, some of you feel uncomfortable with this, please hand in or write (your resignation), and I will understand'.”

Nazri ( photo ) had claimed that the ministers, who attended the cabinet meeting last Friday, made no objections when Najib told them to quit if they felt uncomfortable with 1MDB issues. Instead they were happy to hear what Finance Minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah had to say on 1MDB.

Binding agreement

Husni had stated that 1MDB had entered into a binding agreement with the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and its subsidiary Aabar Investments where IPIC will make a “payment” of US$1 billion, on or before June 4.

Husni claimed the US$1 billion payment would be used to repay a US$975 million (RM3.5 billion) loan,in advance of its due date, to a syndicate of international bank lenders.

"If the US$1 billion is not a 'loan' from the Abu Dhabi investment arm, then what is it and how did the cabinet members give its endorsement to the plan?" asked Pua ( photo ), the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara.

"I had then asked what is the cost of this payment to the Malaysian government, and whether this is a loan or an advance to 1MDB.

“Following that, the 1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda, denied that the US$1 billion is a loan, debt or bailout.

"Assuming Arul Kanda’s statement can still be trusted, we are still completely clueless why IPIC would be willing to make a payment of US$1 billion for a clearly indeterminate transaction.”

Pua added that Ahmad Husni claimed what he tabled was a restructuring report but it turned out to be some vague proposal without providing the complete picture about IPIC paying US$1 billion upfront and how this will cost Malaysians.

“This certainly doesn’t stand up to being a 'complete report' which he promised," he said.

'Very mysterious'

"The question must then be asked – how did the cabinet unanimously and blindly agree to and support the decision to accept a very mysterious US$1 billion payment from a foreign government investment for transactions which were unknown or not finalised?" he queried.

"Why were absolutely no questions asked by any cabinet member?

"This was despite all the hoo-haa expressed by various ministers prior to the cabinet meeting that there need to be proper accountability, transparency and clear explanations.

"If they themselves don’t know or understand the proposal or issues, how can they expect the ordinary Malaysians understand?" he challenged.