Khairy slams Loke for saying Najib’s 1MDB apology ‘irrelevant’

FMT:

Khairy slams Loke for

saying Najib’s 1MDB

apology ‘irrelevant’

Elill Easwaran

-30 Oct 2024, 09:15 PM

The former Umno Youth chief says DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook should have a better understanding of social and cultural sensitivities.

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Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook should have taken a different stance when commenting on the recent apology by former prime minister Najib Razak over the 1MDB fiasco.

PETALING JAYA: 

Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has cricitised DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook for his blunt dismissal of former prime minister Najib Razak’s apology over the 1MDB scandal.

Speaking in the latest episode of his Keluar Sekejap podcast, Khairy said he wanted to introduce a new term known as “cultural quotient” (CQ), which he said referred to the ability to understand social and cultural sensitivities.

“When someone is in jail and apologises, but you say ‘You’re a criminal and this is irrelevant’… I cannot think of a worse CQ moment than this,” said Khairy.

“To say that an apology is ‘irrelevant’… That’s harsh. This man (Najib) is in prison and has shown remorse.

“I disagree with Najib on many things, but he is trying to apologise.”

Last week, Najib made an “unreserved” apology to Malaysians over the 1MDB fiasco, which had led to his incarceration in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

The former Umno president said he had reflected on the scandal over the past 26 months, and it pained him that it had occurred when he was the prime minister and finance minister.

Malaysian and US authorities alleged that about US$4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB, a state fund co-founded by Najib. He had been slapped with a total of 42 charges in several trials linked to 1MDB.

Najib is currently serving a reduced six-year sentence following a pardon after he was convicted of misappropriating RM42 million in funds belonging to former 1MDB subsidiary SRC.

When asked to comment on Najib’s apology on Monday, Loke said it was “irrelevant” as “a crime is a crime.”

The transport minister said it was a fact that Najib’s conviction in the SRC case was upheld by the Federal Court, adding that the former prime minister’s apology meant nothing to him.

Earlier today, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Najib to enter his defence on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib.

Najib is standing trial on four counts of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.