File picture shows Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang with Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng at the 14th Parliament sitting, July 16, 2018. — Bernama pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should use Parliament as his platform tomorrow to give his account of the myriad controversies related to 1MDB, said Lim Kit Siang.

The Iskandar Puteri MP issued the challenge after noting that Najib has failed to explain why his defeated government had not rebutted specific allegations of “kleptocracy” previously.

Lim said this was made more pressing following allegations that Najib’s government had written to the US’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to solicit support for what it had then expected to be a slim victory in the general election.

“It is imperative for Najib to take the floor in tomorrow’s debate in Parliament on the royal address, and explain why the Najib administration had never protested or sought to clear Malaysia’s epithet as a global kleptocracy, or whether my damning thoughts were right after all,” Lim said in a statement today.

The DAP stalwart insisted that the Najib administration not only failed to dispute explicit allegations of kleptocracy by foreign powers, but also allegedly hampered Malaysian institutions that were investigating the activities that fuelled such claims.

There were also conflicting accounts on the origins of the so-called RM2.6 billion “donation” deposited in Najib’s accounts that were never clarified, Lim added.

While former government leaders from Umno previously alleged that the “donation” was to reward Malaysia’s efforts in combating the spread of the Islamic State (IS), Lim noted that Najib previously praised the terrorist group and that it came into existence only after the deposit had been made.

“It is time that Najib make a clean breast of his involvement in the 1MDB scandal in Parliament tomorrow.”