THE cabinet has received an application from Najib Razak to obtain a property worth RM100 million in Kuala Lumpur, Senator Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said today.

“The application was made after Budget 2022,” the finance minister told Dewan Rakyat during his ministry’s winding-up session on Supply Bill 2022 today.

Tengku Zafrul, however, did not confirm whether the application was approved.

“The application was made after the budget was tabled. It will be brought as supplementary budget,” he said when he was quizzed repeatedly by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Langkawi-Pejuang).

A news portal had recently reported that convicted former prime minister Najib had requested a “privilege” from the government in the form of a 1.13ha residential property worth RM100 million in Kuala Lumpur.

Najib was said to have made the request about a year after his fall from power in the 2018 election, and again last year.

According to the report, Najib was said to have made the request based on the practice that the government of the day is expected to reward its predecessors for their service and contributions.

The news portal said that the application was approved although several ministers were unhappy with the matter.

Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million after he was found guilty of seven counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power involving RM42 million in funds from former 1MDB unit SRC International.

Minutes into his winding-up speech today, Dr Mahathir asked Tengku Zafrul to explain why the Supply Bill 2022 did not state or have any information about the RM100 million property that was to be given to Najib.

But Tengku Zafrul sidestepped the matter and said: “This question should be posed to the Prime Minister’s Office as it is in charge of pensions and allowances.”

Dr Mahathir did not relent and asked why Tengku Zafrul couldn’t explain if it was already approved by the cabinet.

“This item is not listed in the budget. When are you going to give it to Parliament?” said the 96-year-old MP.

This prompted interventions from Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman (Muar-Ind), RSN Rayer (Jelutong-PH), Shafie Apdal (Semporna-Warisan), Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan) and many other opposition lawmakers, prompting Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun to step in to defuse the situation.

In the aftermath, Tengku Zafrul said the application was not finalised yet.

“But has it been approved?” asked Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PH). “You must tell us if it has been approved in principle.”

To which Tengku Zafrul replied: “The application was made after the budget was tabled and it will be brought as a supplementary budget next year.”

Parliament is debating the Supply Bill 2022 and has not yet approved it. The government usually uses the supplementary budget to table for extraordinary expenditures made after the budget has been approved. – November 18, 2021.