Najib is a “idiot” for asserting Putrajaya hasn’t paid the 1MDB debt, says Dr Mahathir

Malaysia – Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad dubbed Datuk Seri Najib Razak an “idiot” for saying that Putrajaya had yet to pay “a single sen” of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) main debt.

Dr Mahathir expressed “disgust” at Najib’s comments in Parliament recently, highlighting Najib’s “shameless” attitude toward the wrongdoings done after his High Court sentence and conviction.

“I’m disturbed by Najib’s allegation in the Dewan Rakyat that the government hasn’t paid anything for the 1MDB debt.

“Eee bodohnya, eee bodohnya, eee (how idiotic). This is Najib, therefore there’s no need to pay back debt.

“Najib is a remarkable individual. He has the audacity to reply, ‘What is there to be embarrassed of?’ when you become a thief and are sentenced to 12 years in jail by the court.

“If any of us are unafraid to perform such things, then our civilization is doomed,” he addressed a crowd gathered at Felda Ayer Hitam for his ceramah.

In response to Najib’s well-known phrase “Malu apa bossku?” the elderly politician went so far as to remark that if he were to streak in public, he would react coyly and shamelessly as well. (Do you have anything to be embarrassed of, boss?)

Dr Mahathir, who was just released from the National Heart Institute (IJN) after having an elective operation on January 9, made his first campaign appearance as chairman of the Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) for the Johor elections.

The Langkawi MP emphasized the significance of a new state government free of corruption in contrast to the “kleptocratic” Barisan Nasional (BN) administration, which he said was still collaborating with Najib, in his ceramah.

Dr Mahathir was campaigning for Datuk Shahruddin Md Salleh, Pejuang’s Johor chairman and Machap candidate, who would be up against former state executive councillor Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi (BN), Sekolah Menengah Agama Arab Almasriyah headmaster Azlisham Azahar (PN), and R Sangaran (Muda).

Najib, who was convicted on numerous counts of corruption and abuse of authority in connection with cash embezzled from SRC International totaling over RM40 million, stated in Parliament that no public funds were used to service 1MDB’s principle debt.

He said that Goldman Sachs, audit companies KPMG and Deloitte, AmBank, and the US Department of Justice would have provided the majority of the monies to pay the loan (DoJ).

Some of the RM23 billion in cash embezzled from the corporation were returned to Malaysia by these entities. 1MDB has a subsidiary called SRC International.

According to the Malaysian Finance Ministry, the Malaysian government has returned RM13.3 billion of 1MDB’s debt so far, with RM38.81 billion remaining owed as of December 31 last year.