Task force or ‘forced task’?
COMMENT The public are wondering whether the creation of the special task force (STF) is whether to investigate Najib Abdul Razak’s amassment of wealth or ‘tasked’ or ‘directed’ to clear his name of any wrongdoings?
COMMENT The public are wondering whether the creation of the special task force (STF) is whether to investigate Najib Abdul Razak’s amassment of wealth or ‘tasked’ or ‘directed’ to clear his name of any wrongdoings?
The STF that was formed recently in the wake of the allegations by The Wall Street Journal ( WSJ ) that Najib had received RM2.6 billion in his private accounts in AmBank.
And according to Najib himself, the STF was formed to investigate whether he had used the money for his personal use. If this is the scope, then the STF has begun the whole process of investigation on a wrong footing.
The scope of the SFT should be simple and straightforward - it should determine whether the funds from 1MDB sources flowed into the private accounts of Najib.
If this can be established, then Najib is guilty of crime and the law should take its normal course!
Apparently, according the STF, six accounts have been frozen as result of the investigation and none belonged to Najib.
Apart from the scope, this seems to be second step in the clearance of Najib’s name.
So far the STF has taken two crucial steps to clear the name of Najib. We are wondering as to what will be third step before STF is thrown into the dustbins of history.
I don’t understand why the principal officers of this STF are skirting the fundamental issue of whether or not Najib received the funds from the 1MDB sources.
To date, nobody knows about the detailed scope of STF. The public are left guessing as to the real motive of the STF in the first place.
Moreover, the heads of the STF are not persons who enjoy high credibility in the country.
The heads of the police force, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Attorney-General’s Chambers and Bank Negara are individuals who are considered as civil servants appointed by Najib. Given this, these individuals are not expected to have independent minds to pursue investigation with the larger public interest as the ultimate objective.
The best method of an independent investigation into the financial affairs of Najib is the appointment of a royal commission of inquiry (RCI). But the mere mention of this would be rejected by the government outright.
Not for Najib to determine STF’s scope
It is not for Najib to determine the scope of the STF. He is the one who is alleged to have received funds of such a high magnitude. Ideally, if he had taken temporary leave from his duties, STF could have been empowered a bit.
It is plain obvious that STF is not an investigative team to probe about the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Najib, but rather a ‘tasked force’ instructed to do the needful to clear Najib’s name.
The public have no confidence in the STF. It is pointless to appoint a team whose sole aim seems to be to clear Najib’s name of any wrongdoings related to the 1MDB controversy.
STF is a poor and pathetic example of an investigative team set up to ensure that Najib is not implicated in the numerous wrongdoings of Malaysia’s colossal fund, 1MDB.
We can conclude by saying that it is not a task force but a force or team that has been tasked to do the inevitable!
P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and state assemblyperson for Perai.
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