PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli is "delighted" that Umno and BN are continuing to slander him and other opposition figures over the 1MDB issue.
"Such reaction is what stokes public anger against Umno and BN, and thus allowing the opposition to win the 14th general election," he said in a statement today.
"If there are still Malaysians who believe in the fairy tale that the 1MDB scandal is a concoction by the opposition, it is only the remnants of Umno who would not wake up even if the country goes bankrupt," he chided.
The Pandan lawmaker was responding to the government's move to block access to the Sarawak Report website.
Rafizi warned that efforts to "cover up" the 1MDB issue would only backfire on Umno because its president Najib Abdul Razak and his "lackeys" cannot answer several questions regarding the scandal.
As such, he said he would encourage Najib to continue with such tactics because it erodes public confidence in Umno and BN.
Rafizi said among the issues that have yet to be answered are why and how RM2.6 billion in 1MDB funds ended up in Najib's personal bank accounts, and why US$1.83 billion was reportedly transferred to individuals linked to PetroSaudi and Jho Low as alleged by The Edge today.
In addition, he said Najib or his lieutenants have yet to explain how 1MDB spent its RM42 billion debt.
"If such simple questions are not answered, it would strengthen the people’s belief that there are parties using 1MDB funds for personal luxuries," he said.
Najib previously responded to the allegation that 1MDB funds had been channelled to his account by denouncing it as a "political conspiracy" and initiating legal action against The Wall Street Journal that first made the allegation.
He also stressed that he did not take public funds for "personal use".
However, critics noted Najib had fell short of outright denying the allegations, and that the money may have been for political use because the alleged transfers took place just prior to the 13th general election.
Meanwhile, Rafizi accused Umno of orchestrating a cover-up of the 1MDB scandal by claiming allegations that evidence cited by The Edge and Sarawak Report had been tampered, and accused Anwar Ibrahim, DAP lawmaker Tony Pua, and himself of attempting to topple Najib.
However, the PKR leader said he is unperturbed by such tactics.
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