It's our right to question the govt
This article has earlier appeared in Beritadaily.com on 14/3/2016
The government has decided that the outcome of the 1MDB probe will be kept under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to prevent leakages, at least until it is tabled in parliament.
So, why is the government hiding 1MDB under the OSA?
In the course of the investigation, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had promised a thorough probe into every single detail in the 1MDB controversy to determine what went wrong in its asset acquisition activities which had resulted in debts of RM42 billion.
When 1MDB’s RM42 billion scandal was first exposed, there were lots of speculations and guessing game as the government refused to reveal what had actually gone wrong in these deals.
The government also took months to initiate its internal investigation, and the PAC’s probe too was abruptly put to a standstill on various occasions.
In between, we saw the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) being raided, followed by the detention of several MACC officials, along with the confiscation of investigation papers on the grounds of assisting a police investigation into possible leaks.
All such actions initiated by the government not only created a bad impression on its image but also caused more speculations. The government's actions reflected as though it was attempting to cover up something.
Soon, Malaysia became an international laughing stock. The government's response? It started a crackdown on the people and media who were critical of the 1MDB scandal.
The government is now blaming these critics for damaging its image in the eyes of the public and the international community.
Some BN leaders had also tried to make things worse by claiming that these critics have been expounding false allegations in the public which they said could undermine the nation’s stability, cause public unrest, and threaten national security and public order.
Such allegations are totally senseless.
To stop all public speculations, criticisms and condemnations over the 1MDB scandal, the government must make public all of 1MDB’s asset acquisitions, the list of all interested parties in these transactions, those involved in the decision making and all the financial transactions leading to all such deals.
Likewise, the PAC too should initiate a public inquiry on 1MDB, its top executives, former senior officials and all those who were involved directly and indirectly in its businesses, instead of keeping the inquiry closed door.
To prove its innocence, and that no wrongdoing was committed, documents should not be classified under the OSA. Why fear public scrutiny? Why be afraid of public criticisms? Why so sensitive to public dissent?
If the government had been transparent from the beginning, public criticisms, condemnations, speculations or guessing game would not have happened after all.
So, why blame the public for all these negative reflections? Why cause fear by labelling critics as those disrupting and threatening national security and public order?
The people as taxpayers have their citizenry duty to question the government over the use of public funds. And the government has the duty to answer truthfully.
The government has decided that the outcome of the 1MDB probe will be kept under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to prevent leakages, at least until it is tabled in parliament.
So, why is the government hiding 1MDB under the OSA?
In the course of the investigation, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had promised a thorough probe into every single detail in the 1MDB controversy to determine what went wrong in its asset acquisition activities which had resulted in debts of RM42 billion.
When 1MDB’s RM42 billion scandal was first exposed, there were lots of speculations and guessing game as the government refused to reveal what had actually gone wrong in these deals.
The government also took months to initiate its internal investigation, and the PAC’s probe too was abruptly put to a standstill on various occasions.
In between, we saw the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) being raided, followed by the detention of several MACC officials, along with the confiscation of investigation papers on the grounds of assisting a police investigation into possible leaks.
All such actions initiated by the government not only created a bad impression on its image but also caused more speculations. The government's actions reflected as though it was attempting to cover up something.
Soon, Malaysia became an international laughing stock. The government's response? It started a crackdown on the people and media who were critical of the 1MDB scandal.
The government is now blaming these critics for damaging its image in the eyes of the public and the international community.
Some BN leaders had also tried to make things worse by claiming that these critics have been expounding false allegations in the public which they said could undermine the nation’s stability, cause public unrest, and threaten national security and public order.
Such allegations are totally senseless.
To stop all public speculations, criticisms and condemnations over the 1MDB scandal, the government must make public all of 1MDB’s asset acquisitions, the list of all interested parties in these transactions, those involved in the decision making and all the financial transactions leading to all such deals.
Likewise, the PAC too should initiate a public inquiry on 1MDB, its top executives, former senior officials and all those who were involved directly and indirectly in its businesses, instead of keeping the inquiry closed door.
To prove its innocence, and that no wrongdoing was committed, documents should not be classified under the OSA. Why fear public scrutiny? Why be afraid of public criticisms? Why so sensitive to public dissent?
If the government had been transparent from the beginning, public criticisms, condemnations, speculations or guessing game would not have happened after all.
So, why blame the public for all these negative reflections? Why cause fear by labelling critics as those disrupting and threatening national security and public order?
The people as taxpayers have their citizenry duty to question the government over the use of public funds. And the government has the duty to answer truthfully.
