Najib just like Pak Lah, says Kit Siang

By Debra Chong

October 27, 2011

Lim drew parallels between the outcomes of reforms championed by Najib (left) and Pak Lah (right). — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s national reforms are as ineffective as those touted by his predecessor, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today with a nod to the latest federal audit report released this week.

The opposition leader compared the sixth prime minister’s transformation policies to Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s “Islam Hadhari” concept, and observed the Auditor-General’s report drew the same conclusions between the two administrations.

“Horror tales of financial hanky-panky, mismanagement and misappropriations continue unchanged, year in and year out, whether under Najib, Abdullah or even Tun Mahathir’s time as prime minister,” Lim said in a media statement today.

Abdullah, popularly called Pak Lah, took over from the longest-serving PM, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in October 2003 and went on to win the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) biggest mandate the following year.

However, the fifth prime minister also saw BN lose for the first time its two-thirds dominance in the Dewan Rakyat in the 2008 polls. He stepped down just a year later.

Najib, the son of the nation’s second premier, took office in April 2009 and has been working to boost the government’s image and open up its economy ahead of the 13th general election likely to be called early next year.

Lim reminded Malaysians that just before the March 2008, the Auditor-General reported the government’s spendthrift habits such as the youth ministry paying RM5,700 for a carjack worth RM50 and the police force’s air wing buying two helicopters for RM117.75 million only to find out they did not meet specifications and could not be used.

The Ipoh-Timur MP added the police had to spend another RM15.4 million to teach its pilots how to fly those helicopters.

“Now, on the eve of the 13th general election, Malaysians are equally outraged by the revelations in the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report on the continuing financial scandals, hanky-panky and gross financial negligence in government,” he said.

The veteran politician said many of the mistakes were careless, such as the shifting of a decimal point. He listed as an example the government paying RM170 for one kilogramme of sugar, a price-controlled item that cost RM1.70 on the market at the time.

He also noted the government blew RM142 million on a much-publicised satellite to take pictures of the country and named after the second prime minister, RazakSAT, which malfunctioned barely a year after being launched.

Lim then said someone must take the blame for the unusual hold-up in the publication of the report customarily made available along with the national Budget.

“Who must bear responsibility for the deception in delaying the tabling the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report until after the end of the general debate on the 2012 Budget — prime minister or chief secretary?”