1MDB probe will be slow, thorough and face resistance, says Rewcastle Brown

PETALING JAYA: Patience is needed in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations said Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown as it's going to be a slow slog.

"We have seen charges being raised now, I think it is going to be quite a slow process. Things are going to be done properly.

"Clearly, the investigations are going to be thorough and there is a determination to do things correctly," she told StarTV in an interview on Thursday (Aug 9).

"We've also seen, obviously, quite a bit of push back, that's to be expected."

Rewcastle Brown also gave her take on the political temperature in the country, citing the recent by-election outcome as a measure of the people's acceptance of the Pakatan Harapan Government.

She was referring to the Sungai Kandis by-election in which Pakatan candidate Zawawi Ahmad Mughni emerged as the winner against the Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Lokman Noor with a larger percentage of the votes (62%) compared to the general election (56%).

When asked if she still believed that the Pakatan government can "fix the rot" in Malaysia as the 100-day mark approaches, Rewcastle Brown said the Government was faced with a huge job to clean up after the previous administration.

"It's not a very long time is it? It's a huge job and no one should underestimate it.

"But the job of the media will be to be the eye of these things and to hold the new Government to account. It's not going to be easy.

"I think, you know, we want to cut them some slack.

"I think they found out a lot of things that were being covered up. It's going to make their lives harder.

"I'm sure the media will be fair. It will get credit where it is due. But it (the media) will be there to ask tough questions if things aren't going as people feel they should," she said.

However, Rewcastle Brown said she will leave the monitoring of the governance of the Government to the local media as she would look at the things that the local media were not covering.

When asked about Pakatan Government's inaction over investigations linked to Sarawak Governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, Rewcastle Brown said that it was probably not the main priority of the government right now.

"I'm not sure if that statement that the present Government is not interested in taking action is a totally fair summary.

"I think it has become clear that it's not a priority right now. The priority, it has been made clear is 1MDB," she added.

She also said that this does not mean that there isn't a "very strong case" to be made as the people from Sarawak, Sabah and even in Peninsular Malaysia have received a "raw deal" on the extraction of resources.

Rewcastle Brown also revealed that she would soon be publishing a new book that will touch on her initial investigations into 1MDB.