KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) has rubbished claims that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was out to get Umno bankrupt through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) civil forfeiture suit.
The prime minister said if this was the case, the government would have already done so against the former ruling party.
“There’s no question (about it). If we wanted to bankrupt Umno, we could have done so much earlier,” he told reporters after attending the 20th Asia Oil and Gas Conference 2019 opening ceremony, here, today.
“We have allowed (former premier) Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak (to be) quite free. Although he is charged, he is going around being ‘Bossku’,” he added, referring to the moniker Najib had made popular.
Last Friday, MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said the commission was filing civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and entities, including Umno, in order to recover money that were obtained from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
It was claimed that among others, Umno branches in Selangor, Pahang, Kedah, Johor, Sabah and Kelantan had received parts of the RM270 million belonging to the state investment arm.
In response, Umno leaders said this was merely an effort to outlaw and bankrupt the party and an attempt to distract the people from the sex scandal involving Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Umno acting president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan had also previously said the party would challenge MACC in court over the matter.
Commenting further on the issue, Mahathir said the government was merely acting according to the law, noting that the Umno-led previous administration was guilty of misappropriating funds.
“If they had done something wrong, action must be taken against them. What happened then was Umno had stolen money to be given to its divisions.
“The stolen money must be repaid, not to Umno, but to the government,” he said.
