Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should be referred to the Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee for trying to mislead the Dewan Rakyat while debating 1MDB yesterday.
DAP’s Damansara member of parliament Tony Pua submitted the motion today to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun.
“I would like to refer the Pekan member of parliament (Najib) to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee as provided in Article 36 (12) of the Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives.
“This matter detailed in a letter has been submitted to the Speaker’s office. He (Najib) in his speech yesterday has made a statement that has confused (mengelirukan) the Dewan Rakyat and can be viewed as insulting the Parliament,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat session, today.
Pua said, specifically, Najib had misled members of parliament in several matters raised, including by stating that the government has not paid a single sen of 1MDB’s principal debt.
“This is not true as the government has already paid RM8.8 billion in principal and interest when he was the finance minister.
“Secondly, he had also made a false statement on the acquisition of the independent power plant (IPP).”
Deputy Speaker Datuk Mohd Rashid Hasnon later said the matter would be looked into before a decision is made.
“The office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives will consider the letter and come up with an appropriate response,” he added.
Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz had earlier told the Dewan Rakyat the allegation that the government has yet to pay “a single sen” of 1MDB’s principal debt is baseless, considering the principal debt will only mature between 2022 and 2039.
He said 1MDB’s principal debt stood at RM32.3 billion, while another RM6.5 billion was interest payments. – NST