PRIME Minister Najib Razak should be called to testify before the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into forex losses suffered by Bank Negara (BNM) more than 20 years ago as he was also part of the government of the day, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

“Who do I think should be called? Datuk Sri Najib – because he was also in the cabinet,” the former prime minister told reporters after being questioned by police officers appointed by the RCI, at the Al-Bukhary Foundation in Kuala Lumpur, today.

Dr Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003, will testify on Monday. 

The Pakatan Harapan chairman said former finance minister Daim Zainuddin would also be called to testify.

“I know they are calling Tun Daim and one other person. Beyond that I don’t know,” he said. 

Four police officers recorded his statement today from 4:20pm to 6:30pm.

“They made corrections, they made additions. They asked questions. The letters, the documents, I had to read before I answered. 

Dr Mahathir’s lawyer, Mohamed Haniff Kathri Abdulla said the statement was 20 pages long, with 47 paragraphs.

The statements were “divided into two parts” by the police officers, Haniff said.

“They have divided our statement into two parts, so whether the statement they have prepared incorporates both parts or not, Dr Mahathir will proceed to read the balance of the prepared statement, come what may,” Haniff said. 

Dr Mahathir’s statement is based on documents that are publicly acessible, Haniff added.

However, the questions posed by the police contained references to documents that were classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), he said. 

The RCI is tasked to probe the central bank’s losses amounting to billions from 1988 to 1994, during his tenure as prime minister. 

Former central bank assistant governor Abdul Murad Khalid alleged that BNM’s forex trading losses had amounted to US$10 billion (RM25 billion then) instead of the RM9.3 billion stated in the bank’s annual report in 1994. 

Opposition lawmakers have called the inquiry politically motivated as Dr Mahathir was now with the opposition as chairman of Bersatu and PH. – September 15, 2017.