Despite being convicted with corruption in relation to the 1MDB scandal, former Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak has pledge his support to help the Malaysia’s economy recover.
This comes after Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s one-hour long meeting with Najib Razak, which they discussed about the economic challenges as well as the strategies to fight the pandemic.
On Tuesday (7 September), Ismail Sabri took to Facebook to announce their cooperation and in the Facebook post, he said “I received a visit from the former prime minister Najib Razak. In this hour-long meeting, we discussed domestic and foreign economic challenges including strategies to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Najib is committed to contributing time, energy, and ideas as a team for the sake of Keluarga Malaysia.”
Previously, Ismail had been working under Najib during the Barisan National (BN) administration between 2009 to 2018, under 3 different ministries, including the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister.
Meanwhile, Najib was the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister until 2018, where BN lost in the 2018 General Election.
After the loss, Najib was tried for corruption for his involvement in the 1MDB scandal. He was then charged and found guilty on 7 charges of abuse of power, corruption, and money laundering involving RM42 million from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
The court then sentenced Najib to 12 years in jail and fined him RM210 million for his crimes of corruption. However, he has yet to yet to spend a night in prison as he was granted a stay of execution.
Nonetheless, Najib stated that his principles are clear and he will be frank with his views on the policies that the government is making.
“My principle and stand are clear. If there are opportunities to improve, I will propose. If wrong, I will oppose. If good, I will support.” he said in a Facebook post, in response to Ismail Sabri.
He also said that his views will be made either through the face-to-face meetings or through social media.
“The method is up to those who are willing to listen and understand the voices of the rakyat.” he added.
“Make no mistake. I am being frank with my words. Malaysia is still in a crisis. Hence, it will be faced with even bigger challenges in terms of the economy, income and the rakyat’s welfare.”
Meanwhile, he also mention that people no long have the confidence in Malaysia’s economy.
“At the macro level and broadly speaking, we are far behind our neighbours. We are no longer attractive to foreign investors since 2018. At the micro-level, which involves the rakyat, many lack confidence in our economy. In fact, there are concerns about their necessities, income, and job stability.” he added.
Lastly, he also hopes that his suggestions, strategies, and experience has been of use.
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