There were attempts by certain quarters to pressure PN leaders to interfere in Najib ‘s 1MDB related trial which resulted in him being sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions) Datuk Seri Redzuan Yusof claimed that some politicians aligned to the government were more interested in acquiring positions instead of performing their duties to the public.
He, however, did not say which parties those leaders were from, only that he offered a word of advice for “some friends” to make necessary changes.
Redzuan said it was wrong for politicians to behave as if they were kings after receiving votes from the people, adding that leaders should instead provide services to the people.
“I see today some friends joined politics for positions. They must fulfil their responsibilities when they were elected because that is how democracy is structured.
“I’d like to advise political friends that we have to accept the fact that there must be changes, improvements, transparency and it is important to create a perception that there is no interference from politics when it comes to the rule of law,” he told a press conference at the Parliament building today.
Redzuan also revealed that there were attempts by certain quarters to pressure Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders to interfere in former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) related trial which resulted in him being sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.
“We (PN) will not compromise on the rule of law. You have seen what happened recently, I don’t have to repeat it. There were demands from some pressure groups within our partners to interfere but we will not interfere with the legal process,” he said.
Recently, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that the party would not be joining PN.
Umno is part of the Perikatan Nasional government led by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president.
Muhyiddin was Najib’s deputy when the latter served as prime minister. However, the Pagoh MP was sacked in 2015 for questioning Najib amid allegations of corruption involving 1MDB and its former subsidiary, SRC International.
Muhyiddin went on to form a splinter party with former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and ousted Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) government from power in the 2018 general election.
Dr Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan government lasted for only 22 months after Muhyiddin pulled Bersatu out of PH in February and joined forces with PKR defectors, BN, Pas, GPS, PBS and Star to form the new PN government.
Recently, Dr Mahathir formed a new party called Parti Pejuang Tanah Air but it has yet to be formally registered with the Registrar of Societies.
Asked if Bersatu feels threatened by Pejuang, Redzuan admitted it posed an impact to the ruling party but said it was not significant.
“I can’t deny it is posing an impact, but it all depends on us (Bersatu) on how we want to continue managing our party and I don’t see it (Pejuang) threatening us significantly.
“I see that their goals are the same as Bersatu’s, just that Pejuang is taking a different path but I will not be surprised if one day, they will be part of our grand coalition (PN),” he said. – NST