Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, often seen as a rising leader and a voice of reason in the ruling coalition, has become a lightning rod for criticism for defending the RM2.6 billion in funds deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts. 

Even though several other ministers have been even more vociferous in their defence of Najib, Khairy, who was the most popular candidate in the Umno election, has become a target of the opposition since the scandal unfolded.

But Khairy's remarks yesterday that the receiving of the funds by Najib was not a crime and that it was merely from supporters fuelled further criticism.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had declared the funds to be "donation" and not from 1MDB but it did not disclose further details.

Taking aim at Khairy in separate statements today were DAP Youth chief Teo Kok Seong and Gerakan Harapan Baru communications director Faiz Fadzil Noor ( photo ).

"Khairy's statement that a supposedly political donation is not a crime shows how Umno belittles issues of integrity and governance," Faiz said in reference to the RM2.6 billion "donation"

Faiz, a lawyer by profession, said even "donations" can be considered gratification under Section 3 of the the MACC Act 2009, if either the donor and receiver have vested interest and the donation is made in exchange for favours.

Furthermore, Faiz said, claims about the massive funds being used for the last general election raises more concerns.

Legitimacy of GE13 tainted

"If it is true, the political donation has tainted the legitimacy of the 13th general election results, since a large amount of money had been used in the election, without it being declared to the Election Commision," he said.

Meanwhile, Teo ( photo ) reminded Khairy about the seriousness of the issue, since as astronomical amount of money was involved.

"Khairy and I are MPs from Negeri Sembilan. Normally, the Negeri Sembilan annual budget is less than RM400 million.

"The RM2.6 billion received by the prime minister is enough to cover Negeri Sembilan's budget for 6.5 years," Teo  said.

He the MP for Rasah, while Khairy is Rembau MP.

"As the amount of the political donation is huge, I believe the prime minister owes Malaysians an explanation.

"It is the prime minister's responsibility to explain openly about the RM2.6 billion and reveal who gave him the amount," Teo said.