Rejecting the claim that he was in denial, Najib says it was not 1MDB but lies about the scandal that cost BN.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak chided Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin for making the conclusion on the cause of the coalition’s defeat in GE14 based on “inaccurate and mischievous” news reports.
The former prime minister said the duo did not attend the get-together session with his Facebook friends on Saturday where the issue was mentioned, thus did not have the complete idea on what was actually discussed.
He said the lies and slander which he attributed to BN’s defeat, referred to those about 1MDB.
“If they were present or were watching the FB Live video, they would have known what I meant with false propaganda and lies made about 1MDB.
“I did not say 1MDB was not the factor of BN’s loss,” he said in a Facebook posting yesterday.
He said this after Nazri and Khairy told Najib not to be in denial about BN’s defeat by refusing to acknowledge the 1MDB scandal.
Nazri said that Cabinet members were previously informed that the 1MDB issue could be solved.
“That is why we defended it. We also did not find out until the issue was out in the news and became bigger in public.
“We lost not because people rejected us, but because of 1MDB,” he said.
He said the matter is no longer a political issue as it has been brought to court.
“We cannot be in denial.”
Najib had during the talk blamed an “uneven playing” field in the 14th general election, including “lies and slander” by his opponents.
However, he did not specifically mention “1MDB” throughout the session.
He said he would not have asked the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the 1MDB matter or enter into a settlement with the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) if he thought all was well with 1MDB.
“I don’t want to get into a blame game but I believe every one of us was responsible for this defeat.
“I took responsibility for it by resigning from all positions and declining to contest or to be appointed to any positions,” he said.
Najib said his only desire was to explain and rebut Pakatan Harapan’s “lies which were fabricated” and to produce facts and restore his name as well as to criticise and provide his opinions.
“Give me space to achieve these goals,” he pleaded.
Local and international investigators believe billions in 1MDB’s fund had ended up in Najib’s personal bank accounts.
Najib denies wrongdoing and maintained they were a “donation”.