PKR sues Najib for breaking election law with RM2.6 billion ‘donation’
BY EILEEN NG
Published: 12 August 2015 12:29 PM
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar speaks at the PKR headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, today. PKR says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has broken election laws by accepting a RM2.6 billion ‘donation’ that was used to fund the ruling coalition's campaign in the last general election. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Nazir Sufari, August 12, 2015.
Opposition party PKR has filed a civil suit against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for committing election offences, following The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) report over US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) in his personal accounts, which has now been confirmed as a "donation".
The suit, filed this morning at the Kuala Lumpur High Court through lawyer Tommy Thomas, also named Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the Election Commission (EC) as defendants.
The suit was brought by the party's jailed de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Batu MP Tian Chua, former secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) member Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad.
"This is a follow-up action from The Wall Street Journal report.
"The facts of the case have exposed various corruption and corrupt tactics used by BN to win the 13th general election.
"It is obvious that the RM2.6 billion used is more than 26 times the allowed amount as outlined by Malaysian laws," said Nurul Izzah at a press conference in the PKR headquarters today.
Section 19 of the Election Offences Act limits electoral spending to RM100,000 and RM200,000 for a state and parliamentary candidate respectively.
Nurul said the EC had openly ignored corruption, and cited the speech made by Najib at the 2010 Sibu by-election as an example where the EC said it did not have the power to investigate.
"I help you, you help me... If Robert Lau becomes the MP on Sunday, on Monday I will ask the cheque to be prepared. Do we have a deal or not? We do! You want the RM5 million, I want Robert Lau to win," Najib had reportedly said then in referring to the BN's candidate for Sibu.
Najib says that the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) has cleared him of corruption over the RM2.6 billion in his personal accounts, which he reiterated was held in trust on behalf of Umno, of which he is president, and not for his personal use.
MACC had announced that the money was from a Middle Eastern donor and not from 1MDB.
Allegations of RM2.6 billion in Najib's accounts first surfaced in a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on July 2, citing documents from Malaysian investigators.
WSJ said the source of the funds were unknown, but came through 1MDB-linked entities in various tranches, the largest of which – US$681 million – was channelled to Najib's accounts in March 2013, ahead of the general election in May that year.
A few of Najib's Cabinet members had previously said that there was nothing wrong with money being funnelled into his personal accounts as he had the capacity to be a trustee for Umno.
BN's secretary-general Tengku Adnan had said it was a common practice for the head of any political party to hold funds in trust.
PKR lawyer R. Sivarasa today said the suit was meant to send a clear message to Najib that he would be brought in to account for his actions.
"He can change the A-G, he can interfere with the MACC and can do all sorts of things, but our summons today is our initiative to ensure no matter what he does, he will be held accountable in court," Sivarasa said.
The PKR MP for Subang was referring to former attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was abruptly dismissed and replaced on the same day as Najib's Cabinet reshuffle last month. Gani had been in the midst of a probe into 1MDB as a member of a special task force assigned to investigate the firm and the money in Najib's accounts.
In addition to dropping Gani, Najib also removed Cabinet ministers who were critical of his handling of 1MDB. This was followed by police questioning of seven MACC officers per alleged leaks of official information on the 1MDB probe.
"He will be asked to account for the money, he cannot run. The message we want to send today is no matter how much you lie and abuse the institutions and manipulate the situation, you cannot run," said Sivarasa.
He said the suit would allow them to obtain answers on the RM2.6 billion in Najib's accounts, including the identity of the donor and how was it spent.
News portal Malaysiakini also reported that PKR in its statement of claim was asking the court for several declarations, including that Najib had committed corruption with the funds in his personal accounts, for BN to be de-registered and for the results of the 2013 general election to be set aside. – August 12, 2015.
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