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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, July 8, 2018
What’s next for Najib Razak
The good news is that, under the new Mahathir administration, foreign governments will now have access to Malaysian documents related to the 1MDB probe. The US, Singapore and Switzerland are among the countries investigating the scandal.
( July 6, 2018, Canberra, Sri Lanka Guardian) The
arrest of Najib Razak, the former prime minister of Malaysia, on
Tuesday was widely expected. In fact, many Malaysians were hoping he
would be arrested immediately after the ruling party, the United Malays
National Organisation (UMNO), was defeated in the May 9 election.
Najib was the main reason why UMNO lost – he was widely seen as corrupt
and the main person behind the scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad
(1MDB), a state investment fund.
US prosecutors have accused Najib of diverting US$731 million from
1MDB into his personal bank account. Many people assume Najib’s arrest
is connected to this fund, but legally speaking, he faces charges
relating to a company called SRC international, a one-time subsidiary of
1MDB.
SRC took a loan of about US$1 billion from a state-run retirement fund
and Najib is alleged to have siphoned off about US$10.5 million from the
top. The money allegedly ended up in his bank account, the same account
that was implicated in the 1MDB affair.
Najib has denied any wrongdoing, and on Weddnesday pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Why was Najib not charged in the 1MDB probe?
The simple answer is that the 1MDB investigation covers multiple
jurisdictions. At the last count, money involved in the 1MDB affair is
believed to have passed through the following financial systems: the
United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Switzerland, Australia,
Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, among others.
It is simply not possible to put such a complex case together in such a
short amount of time following the election of opposition leader
Mahathir Mohamad two months ago.
The good news is that, under the new Mahathir administration, foreign
governments will now have access to Malaysian documents related to the
1MDB probe. The US, Singapore and Switzerland are among the countries
investigating the scandal. When Najib was in power, all financial
institutions in Malaysia refused to cooperate with these foreign probes.
Why is SRC International different?
The key factor here is a star witness, a former director of SRC
International who decided to come forward to testify for the
prosecution. This individual was too afraid to come forward when Najib
was prime minister. That is no longer the case.
There are several key witnesses in the 1MDB scandal who may be thinking
along the same lines as the former SRC director. With Najib no longer in
control, some of these witnesses may now turn against him, as well.
Top of the list is Jho Low,
the accused mastermind of the 1MDB scam. He is believed to be dividing
his time between Macau and Taiwan, both places where extradition to
Malaysia is not possible.
Another important witness under tremendous pressure to come forward is Tim Leissner, the former Southeast Asia chairman for Goldman Sachs, the bank that handled most of the 1MDB bond sales. He was pushed to resign from Goldman Sachs in February 2016, and both Singapore and US securities regulators have banned him from working again in the financial industry.
An interesting side note is that he is better known in the US as the
husband of Kimora Lee Simmons, an American model and fashion designer
and the former wife of hip hop mogul Russell Simmons.
What’s next in the Najib case?
By charging Najib, the Mahathir administration is keeping an electoral
promise to take action against the former leader. But more importantly,
the new government is also sending a strong message to Malaysians and
the international community that it is serious about cleaning up the
mess left by Najib’s government, especially when it comes to corruption.
For Najib, this will likely be the first of many trials he will face, as
more charges are expected in the 1MDB case. It’s also likely that
Najib’s family members, including his wife, stepson and son-in-law will
face charges, as they are alleged to be direct beneficiaries of the
stolen funds.
And this will likely bring an end to the Razak political dynasty in
Malaysia for the time being. Najib’s father was Malaysia’s second prime
minister and many of his immediate relations used to hold political
office. Until the election in May, Najib’s cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein,
had been Malaysia’s defence minister.
UMNO will also need to shed its associations with Najib in order to
rehabilitate its image among the Malaysian people. Last weekend, the
party elected a new president, former Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
All in all, Najib’s arrest represents a clean break from the past for
all of Malaysia. The end of one-party rule has opened up the possibility
of a new era of good governance in the country, which was unthinkable
just three months ago. In today’s “new” Malaysia, anything is possible –
even calling to account a former prime minister who was just defeated.
More importantly, going forward, the Malaysian public will demand full accountability from their leaders, both past and present.
James Chin, Director, Asia Institute Tasmania, University of Tasmania
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.