The former prime minister says the chronology of establishing the RCI betrays its true intention.
PUTRAJAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has charged that the formation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to investigate the foreign exchange (forex) trading losses during his administration 25 years ago was aimed to intimidate critics of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
The former prime minister, who now heads Pakatan Harapan (PH), said the chronology of the establishment of the RCI betrayed its true purpose, which was to intimidate critics of Najib on the 1MDB scandal and other issues.
“To my knowledge, all the issues related to the forex losses had been tackled by Bank Negara Malaysia by the creation of various oversight measures, in particular by amending the Bank Negara Malaysia Act 2009 and regulations under it.
“Twenty-five years have gone by since the forex issue and it is not an issue that needs attention or should burden the people, but, from out of the blue, a former assistant governor of BNM brings up this issue again,” Mahathir said while testifying before the RCI at the Palace of Justice here today.
He said that following the remark by Abdul Murad Khalid, the Najib administration immediately released a statement that it would consider the formation of the RCI.
“Najib Razak, through his ‘assistants’, succeeded in creating the RCI in less than 25 days, to be exact only 19 days,” he added.
Mahathir was the 24th witness to be called by the RCI which is tasked to investigate the losses borne by BNM as a result of trading in foreign currencies.
The witnesses who testified earlier included former finance ministers Anwar Ibrahim and Daim Zainuddin; former BNM governors Ahmad Mohd Don and Zeti Akhtar Aziz; former BNM adviser Nor Mohamed Yakcop; and former Attorney-General Ainum Mohamed Saaid.
Mahathir called on each of the five members of the RCI panel to be courageous in making their decisions and offering different opinions, “should the testimonies heard during the inquiry not lead them to achieve an unanimous decision”.
“I hope and appeal to all of you, who are learned and have been appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as commissioners, to perform your duty to seek the truth in the name of the King and to make the right and correct recommendations without taking sides to help Najib realise his true evil intention,” he said.
“Also, I understand the original forex trading records were not tabled during the investigation by any witness because the matter was already 25 years old,” he added.
The RCI hearing is chaired by Petronas chairman Mohd Sidek Hassan.
Other members of the RCI panel are High Court judge Kamaludin Md Said, Bursa Malaysia Berhad CEO Tajuddin Atan, Special Task Force to Facilitate Business co-chairman Saw Choo Boon, and Malaysian Institute of Accountants member K Pushpanathan.
Finance Ministry strategic investment division secretary Dr Yusof Ismail is the panel secretary.
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Sumber Dr M: RCI on forex losses aimed to intimidate Najib’s critics
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