PAKATAN Harapan (PH) lawmakers should vote against the cabinet decision to approve in principle a RM100 million property for Najib Razak, said Lim Guan Eng.

The DAP secretary-general suggested PH MPs call for a division voting to object the decision at the Dewan Rakyat on Monday.

The vote should be against the Prime Minister’s Department when the house debates Supply Bill 2022 at the committee stage.

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz revealed Najib’s bid to obtain a RM100 million property in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week. But, the former prime minister has since said he has withdrawn his application.

Despite this, Lim said the cabinet’s original decision to grant an approval is still wrong.

“(It) must be reversed. The move to grant the RM100 million property to Najib is wrong and has caused mounting public anger against Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government.

The move mocks the Keluarga Malaysia concept as benefiting only immediate political families and not all Malaysians, he added.

The Bagan MP claimed that the Pekan MP withdrew his application because of political reasons, and that there is no guarantee he will not renew it later.

Tengku Zafrul said the cabinet has received the application, but did not confirm whether it has made a decision, while Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the cabinet has agreed in principle, but a final decision has not been made.

Najib’s request is in accordance with remuneration for former prime ministers under the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) Act 1980.

He is said to have made the request about a year after Barisan Nasional lost in the 2018 general election.

The news evoked public anger as he is a convicted criminal, having been fined RM210 million and sentenced to 12 years’ jail after found guilty of seven counts of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million in funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, an ex-1Malaysia Development Bhd unit.

Najib had yesterday announced on Facebook that he has withdrawn his application as “people are not comfortable with it”.

Lim said PH MPs should also vote against the Prime Minister’s Department to protest two other issues: the inadequate allocations for Sabah and Sarawak, and allocations according to race in Budget 2022; and, the government’s refusal to continue the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project, whereby it will end in Johor Baru.

“This is financially unviable and impractical as it will deprive Selangor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan and Johor of the material economic benefits of the project stopping at Singapore.” – November 20, 2021.