Deepak’s exposé: Najib should respond, not Zahid

Defence Minister and Umno vice president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has said that he would respond tomorrow to allegations made by businessman Deepak Jaikishan on Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s family which is also related to the high-profile and long-running  Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case.


It is not Zahid but Najib himself who should be responding in his winding-up speech at the 66th Umno General Assembly tomorrow, for three reasons.

Firstly,  Deepak’s allegations pertain to Najib’s family, that he had paid an undisclosed sum for the premier’s intervention to allow him to come in as a party in a RM100 million defence ministry project in 2005 when Najib was the Defence Minister -  stitching a deal with a Selangor Umno Wanita leader’s company where he would participate as a third party in the project.

As Najib is not only around but is also the chief of the pack in Umno, he should respond as whatever Zahid could say would only be hearsay with neither credibility nor legitimacy.

Secondly, the Deepak connection with the high-profile and long-running Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case. Deepak has expressed regret of his involvement in getting private investigator P Balasubramaniam to make a second Statutory Declaration which reversed an earlier one linking Najib to murdered Mongolian Altantuya.

Deepak said in interviews that he got involved in Bala’s case to help “the family of the prime minister”.

Again, Zahid’s response to Deepak’s allegation cannot be satisfactory as only Najib is in a position to respond with any credibility.

Thirdly, this is an acid test of Najib’s Umno Presidential Address yesterday which had asserted that Pakatan Rakyat should not be given a chance to win the 13th general election as Umno/Barisan Nasional could  boast of great success in governing Malaysia in the past five decades – one of which is the “efficacy of national institutions”.

The sordid Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals are shameful testimony, not to success but corruption and subversion, of the “efficacy of national institutions” as Malaysia would not have reached such a sorry pass in the Altantuya murder case if various national institutions, whether the police, the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Malaysian press had maintained and upheld their integrity, independence and professionalism.

Is Najib prepared to fully vindicate himself, his government and the country by subjecting himself to a full and independent public inquiry into the sordid Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals and announce it at the Umno General Assembly winding-up tomorrow?

If Najib is prepared to submit himself to a full and independent public inquiry into the Deepak/Bala/Altantuya scandals, his apology in his Umno Presidential Speech on behalf of the Umno leadership for any “mistake” or “oversight” would be a bona fide one.

If not, his “apology” is just mere rhetoric.

By Lim Kit Siang  - DAP parliamentary leader and MP for Ipoh Timor.

BN Selangor ‘menggelupur’ jawab isu ‘sapu tanah’

Abdul Syukor yang juga ADUN Kuang mendakwa tanah yang dibeli dengan harga murah RM1 sekaki persegi itu sedangkan bernilai lebih RM2p juta adalah untuk kegunaan masyarakat seperti pembinaan dewan serbaguna dan tadika.

24 bidang tanah seluas 33.5 ekar itu bernilai lebih RM20 juta ‘disapu’ parti komponen BN iaitu UMNO, MCA, MIC dan Gerakan ketika kerajaan negeri diterajui Menteri Besar, Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.

Setiauusaha MCA Selangor, Wong Koon Mun turut respon dengan pendedah itu mendakwa tidak salah membeli tanah negeri dengan harga murah.

Menurutnya, amalan itu sudah menjadi kebiasaan sejak merdeka menjual dengan harga murah untuk tujuan kemasyarakatan seperti untuk membina kuil dan sekolah.

“Semua tanah MCA di kampung baru adalah milik  ibu pejabat parti itu, bukan milik peribadi. Apa yang salah?” katanya Koon Mun yang mempertahankan amalan itu.

Yang menimbulkan persoalan, ADUN Sekinchan itu berkata, ada antara tanah yang ‘disapu’ BN itu diguna untuk tujuan komersial atau dijual bukannya untuk kegunaan masyarakat seperti didakwa Abdul Shukor.

“Tiada dewan atau Tadika yang dibina di atas tanah berkenaan, Ini satu pembohongan.
“Kita dapati tanah berkenaan (dibangunkan) secara usaha sama. Ada yang sudah membina kedai, kondominium dan hartanah lain,

“Ini bermakna ADUN Kuang itu melakukan pembohongan besar,” jelas Suee Lin.

Beliau berkata, UMNO, MCA, MIC tidak sepatutnya diberi hak membeli tanah itu dengan harga murah oleh kerajaan BN yang memerintah Selangor sebelum ini sedangkan ketika itu tanah berkenaan bernilai tinggi.

Suee Lim berkata, beliau membawa isu UMNO-BN ‘sapu tanah’ itu ke pengetahuan SPRM dan polis untuk siasatan lanjut.-Roketkini.com