Malaysia condemns the heinous act on innocent civilians yesterday in Bangkok which claimed the lives of two Malaysians and others, New Straits Times reported.
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Less than a month after leaked documents suggested that $700 million from entities linked to debt-ridden state investment fund 1MDB was funneled into Prime Minister Najib Razak?s accounts, he has expelled critics in his government, sacked the attorney-general probing him, suspended two newspapers, blocked a UK-based website and stalled investigations over the scandal.
Referring to that, Mahathir said Najib was shielded from legal action. The worldwide ratings agency said that the weakening ringgit would not significantly affect the companies that it rates due to their “moderate leverage, sound liquidity and generally conservative financial policies”.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has said the money in Najib’s account was a donation, and not connected to 1MDB.
“Even those who had come to me complaining about Najib’s administration before, upon being given posts in his government, have now changed their stand”.
1MDB was launched in 2009 by Najib, who still chairs its advisory board.
This is while a number of UMNO members, including former long-term Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and deposed Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, have harshly censured Najib’s government for failing to offer convincing details about the more than 670 million dollars discovered in prime minister’s bank accounts. Malaysia, he said, was embroiled in a political and economic crisis. 1MDB has denied transferring funds to Najib and an interim government report found nothing suspicious.
He said: “Najib may be able to buy his way through in the next election but he will not be able to acquire funds to sustain his purchase of popularity”.
Since previous year, the ringgit has lost over a fifth of its value against the US dollar, now hovering around RM4.10 to the greenback and below the RM3.80 peg that was imposed during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis.
Datuk Seri Najib – who last week acknowledged that political uncertainty has weighed down investor confidence – repeated Bank Negara Malaysia’s stance thrice in a statement at a hastily called briefing yesterday for selected local media.
“
They’re doing it to create a climate of fear”,
said Karpall, acting manager of the pro-democracy group Bersih that is organising an anti-government rally in the capital this month.
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Meanwhile, the Malaysian economy has suffered from weak global commodity prices and falling domestic consumption.
