MP SPEAKS Our government through our Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi issued a startling statement saying "the Swiss attorney- general should not have made public his request for Malaysia's help into 1MDB probe".

More specifically, it was related to the US$4 billion (RM16.6 billion) suspected misappropriations by 1MDB and possible violations of Swiss law. But who are we to say that to the Swiss?

By the same virtue, was it right for our attorney-general to say publicly through the media that the billions paid into accounts under our prime ministers was made by the late King of Saudi Arabia who, of course, cannot verify that claim? Signs from the Saudis are not so positive on that statement.

Are we also going to tell the French to clamp up on the ongoing Scorpene submarine deal investigation since it involves someone very close to the prime minister?

By the way, somebody involved in the negotiations got brutally killed in mysterious circumstances. Anyway, what have we got to hide in these matters? Could two foreign powers be conspiring against our prime minister?

Our government must be very nervous since Switzerland is no longer the safe secret haven for ill-gotten funds as its banking secrecy law is no longer what it used to be. Since the Swiss AG's report mentioned possible involvement of former Malaysian government officials, Putrajaya is getting plenty of sleepless nights. What dark secrets may unfold?

Our government forgets that even non-Muslim countries uphold the values of integrity and transparency that we, as a Muslim country, preach. We even have a minister for integrity who seems to play a mainly token ceremonial role to fill up the 30-plus ministers' posts.

Where is the real "Amanah" (integrity) that is an important basis of the true Islamic teaching that we should uphold?

Borderless world

The government preaches about a borderless world, open flow of trade and information when ramming the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) down our throats. But when it does not suit it, it wants to stop flow of information from Switzerland and France to stop its dirty secrets from spilling out into the open.

This hypocrisy must stop. The trail of dirty deals of 1MDB span from Malaysia to Singapore, the Arab nations, Switzerland, United States and the Cayman Islands.

It is impossible to buy everyone their silence, but the government will surely squirm and try to wriggle its way out of this mess. A few more good people will fall along the way.

The greatest irony of it all is that while Malaysia has a minister of integrity who chose to remain silent, Switzerland need not have one to tell us not to stop the investigation into 1MDB, as our attorney-general had ordered, so that they may help us solve the 1MDB missing billions.

The point is: are we ever interested in getting to the bottom of this mess?

Even the unprecedented urging of the Conference of Malay Rulers recently to resolve the 1MDB saga had fallen on deaf ears. What will it take to resolve this saga?

There certainly is no political will to get to the bottom of this. What is certainly plentiful in this issue is the abundance of "political ill". We are a young but a very sick nation today... by choice.

RAJA KAMARUL BAHRIN SHAH RAJA AHMAD is MP for Kuala Terengganu and chairman of international affairs for Amanah.