Najib: No basis to set up royal panel to probe Dr M

KOTA KINABALU: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has dismissed the call to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate the claim that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wasted RM100bil during his years in office, saying there was no basis for it.

“Having a commission is inappropriate,” he said when commenting on the call by DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang.

Lim made the call following the recent release of a book Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by author Barry Wain, who alleged that Dr Mahathir “burnt” RM100bil in corruption and grandiose projects during his 22-year reign.

Speaking to reporters after opening the 14th Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah annual congress here, Najib said: “There is always a call for a royal commission. For every single thing, they want a royal commission. It is not appropriate to have a royal commission just because somebody has written a book.”

He said it was important to look to the future, adding: “Each of our prime ministers has made a lot of contributions, otherwise we will not be what we are today.”

Earlier in his speech at the PBRS congress, Najib said that all Barisan parties whether big or small played a crucial role in the coalitions strength and victories.

He said some parties were strong in certain areas but needed the support of coalition partners to strengthen their position in other areas.

“In the spirit of Barisan, where all parties work for each other, small parties could play an important role in the bringing support for the bigger parties,” he said

Najib also said the Government would study the full implications of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) before implementing it, adding that the general policy was for a “gentle introduction”.

He said this when asked about fears in Sabah and Sarawak that the already high prices of goods would increase further when the GST was introduced.

“We have to go into greater detail into each sub-sector. We have to see what happens in the sub-sectors if we introduce GST.

“This is what we have to do because it is not going to be implemented until 2011 if we do decide to go ahead with it.”

He also said his wish for 2010 to be the year of “execution of all promises to the people”.

“I hope that next year will be the year of execution, a year that will see us in action mode to deliver whatever we have promised to the people,” he added.