FORMER prime minister Najib Razak seems to have accepted the rebuttal made by Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz over the claim that the government had borrowed RM115 billion from January to May this year, but not just yet.

Tengku Zafrul said the government’s loan as of April totalled RM81.8 billion, reaching RM99.3 billion in May and not RM115.53 billion as claimed. Najib also charged that the loan was spent at will by the government after the Finance Act was suspended because of the emergency.

As expected, even though the details and facts pertaining to the loans had been made clear, Najib posted on Facebook, questioning the rationale behind borrowing the “mammoth” amount of RM99.3 billion in less than five months.

Indirectly, the post reflects his own admission that he was all wrong about the figure – that the government has been transparent about the loans which are used primarily to curb Covid-19. But to divert attention from his claims, Najib asked “jadi, mana bantuan PKP 2.0 dan PKP 3.0/3.1?”

At the rate of daily Facebook posts, Najib will continue making all sorts of allegations to satisfy his vengeance and vindication against Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, whom he sacked when the latter, then deputy prime minister, criticised Najib’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal in 2015. 

Also remember, under the Perikatan Nasional-led government, Najib’s corruption cases are ongoing. In February, his wife, Rosmah Mansor, was ordered to enter her defence over all three graft charges in relation to a solar-hybrid project for 369 rural schools in Sarawak.       

Najib must have been embarrassed to have concocted another lie in as far as the loan figure is concerned. Although he started asking about the aid for the people, a majority of Malaysians know that the government has been giving out all forms of aid and assistance to minimise the burden and suffering of the people since the Covid-19 outbreak early last year.

More could have been helped without the 1MDB legacy, as said by Tengku Zafrul who revealed that Malaysia is still burdened with debts of more than RM40 billion carried over from Najib’s Barisan Nasional days.

Najib has been relentless in his attacks against the government but, in my observation, has remained silent about his integrity and the ongoing court cases. On many occasions, he has been proven wrong on his claims but he conveniently forgotten about them.

Right now, we are in a critical time. The Covid-19 daily cases may hit 8,000 any time now this month as mentioned by the director-general of health and this should be our utmost concern, not politics. You should not make it look grimmer.

While you may be trying your best to garner as much support as possible in discrediting and belittling the government, remember, it’s the people’s lives that matter the most, now and forever. We are all hunkered down, doing our best to fight the pandemic, together. – May 28, 2021.

* Hannah Maria Mohamad reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.