Action will be taken against Najib for breaking embargo, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR: Action will be taken against Datuk Seri Najib Razak for breaking Parliament embargo on the Federal Land Deve­lopment Authority (Felda) White Paper, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“This is serious,” said the Prime Minister.

“He is not a novice elected representative, but a former prime minister.

“He has published a paper that was embargoed.

“We view this seriously and we will take action so he will be reminded that no one is above parliamentary rules,” said Dr Mahathir at a press conference at Parliament yesterday.

Separately, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said more police reports would be lodged by Felda over alleged mismanagement in the agency.

These would be lodged after the government scrutinised the forensic audit report on Felda that was presented to the Cabinet recently, he said.

“We will ensure all those culprits will be brought to justice to ensure no more abuse of power and mismanagement in Felda,” Azmin said during a press conference at the Parliament lobby.

Azmin said the government had identified several potential assets to be liquidated in order to improve Felda’s cash flow and its financial status.

“We are in the bidding process now,” he said.

“It has to go through an open tender process to ensure we get the highest possible value for the assets that would be liquidated.”

Earlier, a police report was lodged, alleging that Najib had ordered Felda into overpaying for a 37% stake in Indonesia’s PT Eagle High Plantations Tbk in 2015.

On Wednesday, Najib posted on Facebook, defending Felda’s investment in the Indonesian company. He wrote that a “put option” was included as part of the deal and called on the government to make the agreement public.