Civil society group urges PM to refer Najib to Committee of Privileges over 1MDB issue

SHAH ALAM - A civil society group has asked the Prime Minister to refer former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the Committee of Privileges to determine if the Dewan Rakyat was misled over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Seed community for a Professional Parliament said it called upon Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob to prioritise the motion moved by Damansara MP Tony Pua Kiam Wee to refer the Pekan MP to the committee (the 'Razak Motion') so that it can be debated and decided on before the Parliamentary meeting ends today.

According to the Order Papers, dated March 24, 2022, the motion was placed as the final item out of 19 items in the Orders of the Day and Motions.

This, the group said would practically mean that the 'Razak Motion' will simply not be presented, debated and decided by the Dewan Rakyat in the meeting.

"If Ismail Sabri has no intention to protect Najib from being questioned by the committee chaired by the Speaker, he must direct one of his ministers to move a motion under Standing Order 14(2) to push the 'Razak Motion' to the top of the list.

"The government owes it to all 220 elected MPs to decide whether Najib should be investigated by the committee to determine if he had misled the House that the government has not paid any money on 1MDB, a claim that contradicted the statements by the current and immediate former Finance Ministers," the group said.

Therefore, the group urged for ministries to propose a motion under the Standing Order, so that the Dewan Rakyat can decide to proceed with the 'Razak Motion' first out of the regular order.

It said the issue of whether an MP has made statements that mislead the Dewan Rakyat was of utmost importance and required immediate action by the House.