Be a 'gentleman' and go on leave, Opposition tells Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak must take a leave of absence and a snap election must be held within a year following the probe into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), said Datuk Ambiga Sreevanesan.

The NegaraKu patron and lawyer was speaking during a meeting between Opposition leaders and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Tuesday over 1MDB.

Ambiga said that if the prime minister were to go on leave, the Barisan National (BN) government would be in limbo, and this would require the formation of a unity government.

“Maybe it is time we looked at a caretaker government. There has to be a unity government of sorts.

“And there must be a promise of fresh elections in one year,” the former Bar Council president said.

Her call was backed by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

“Although the Opposition might not win, but at least we will have a clean government,” said Lim, who is also Bagan MP and Penang Chief Minister.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also urged Najib to take the “gentlemanly” route by taking a leave of absence while investigations are carried out.

“Once investigations are ongoing, we cannot have the executive be in there because the Attorney-General (A-G) was also given the job by the Prime Minister.

“We ask that the Prime Minister please take the gentlemanly way, go on leave and allow an independent commission to at least have the investigations done as it involves breach of trust and corruption,” said the Permatang Pauh MP.

The PKR president also made a fresh call for A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz to appear at a special parliamentary sitting to explain about the ongoing probe.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan who was also at Tuesday’s meeting agreed with Dr Wan Azizah, saying: “I’m lawyer by profession. We are men of law and we know that to conduct an investigation, the person alleged must take leave of absence from office, otherwise, the investigation cannot go on. What more if the person is very powerful.”

The venue for the event was supposed to be held at a meeting room in Parliament. But it had to be changed to the Parliament square as the meeting room was double booked for a Perdana Fellow Programme.

Opposition leaders claimed that they were barred from entering the meeting room.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) revealed in a report on Friday that US$700mil (RM2.6bil) had been channelled into Najib’s personal bank accounts before GE13, quoting sources and documents from a government probe into 1MDB.

However, Najib has vehemently denied the accusations and is expected to take legal action against the international publication.