NAJIB Razak should focus on national issues during his White House visit next week and not use the occasion to try and resolve his personal issues linked to the 1MDB scandal, said the opposition.

PKR and DAP believe the prime minister may try and use the visit to deal with the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) criminal investigation into allegations of money laundering.

The DoJ has launched a criminal investigation into funds allegedly siphoned off from 1MDB and has sought to delay civil suits filed in the past two years to forfeit more than US$1 billion (RM4.3 billion) in real estate and other assets.

“This would be futile because of the independence of the US institutions,” said DAP Petaling Utara MP Tony Pua.

Najib will visit the United States next week to mark the 60th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two nations. He is also scheduled to visit President Donald Trump at the White House.

“The real reason behind wanting to speak to Trump is to pull the 1MDB case in the US… so he wants to cover that up, he wants to close the case, he wants no further action,” said Pua.

“Unfortunately unlike Najib, Trump has no such power in the US, he may be the most powerful person in the world, but America is a country with rule of law where the institution is independent.”

“I’m sure Trump envies Najib, who can control institutions in Malaysia. He has been able to replace the attorney-general when he was about to be charged, he was able to retire senior officers in MACC and silence even Parliament from discussing issues like 1MDB, Trump cannot do that.”

In a separate event today, PKR’s strategic director Sim Tze Tzin said Najib’s meeting with Trump should be strictly on bilateral relations only.

“There are many speculations that the prime minister would raise the investigations of DoJ related to his family, his associates and Malaysian Official 1 in his White House meeting.

“We urge the prime minister to focus on national interest first and national interests only. Country should come first, over personal matters,” Sim said.

The PKR lawmaker also pointed out that in the past several years, Najib had been desperately selling national strategic assets to foreign countries, in his attempt to pay up 1MDB debts.

“He has sold independent power plants, vast strategic lands and important seaports to foreign countries. We urge the prime minister not to repeat that in his visit to the US,” Sim added. – September 7, 2017.