THE palace has denied that the Conference of Rulers had twice snubbed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) request to act against Najib Razak over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal Syed Danial Syed Ahmad said the rulers had released a statement on the issue on October 6, 2015, calling on the government, led by then prime minister Najib, to take stern action on those responsible.

The statement also said that if the multi-billion ringgit scandal was not handled wisely and resolved quickly, it would negatively affect the country’s economy and the people’s lives.

“Within the scope of the roles and power of the rulers based on the federal constitution, the rulers indicated they had given serious attention to the 1MDB issue in a statement issued by the Keeper of the Rulers’ Seal on behalf of the rulers,” Syed Danial said in a statement today.

Attached to today’s statement was also a copy of the 2015 statement.

MACC chief commissioner Mohd Shukri Abdull told a press conference today that he and former chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed had attempted to get cabinet ministers to act against Najib but it did not work.

They then approached the Conference of Rulers twice to convince the rulers to take action against the then prime minister but to no avail as well.

However, constitutional experts have said there was not much the rulers could have legally done besides advising the government, which do not have any binding effect. – May 22, 2018.