DR M SAYS HIS FINANCIAL MISTAKES IS NOT BAD AS NAJIB

The Malaysian Insider filepic, April 7, 2015.

In a rare admission of his past policy mistakes, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed conceded that he lost public money during his time as Prime Minister, but stressed that these were not as bad as the billions going missing under the current administration.

In a blog posting today, Dr Mahathir attempted to defend some of the ill-fated decisions of his 22-year administration in a bid to counter  the argument that he should not criticise Najib’s policy mistakes such as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.

“I admit that during my time there was also loss of the country’s funds. But the public and the world knows how the money went missing,” Dr Mahathir wrote in his blog posting today.

He then went on to briefly explain some of the financial scandals of his tenure such Perwaja Steel, Bank Bumiputera Finance and the Maminco affair, which cost the country billions in losses.

“What is clear is that the country knew where the money was being invested in during my time. In business there are times when you make profits and times when you accrue losses.

“What cannot be accepted is that the money vanishes without a trace,” he wrote.

Dr Mahathir countered the argument that just like Najib and businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, he had put his own friends such as Tun Daim Zainuddin into positions of power.

“(A critic) compares Low Taek Jho and my critic of him with the criticism against me regarding Ananda Krishnan’s involvement in Petronas and the appointment of my friend Daim Zainuddin as Finance Minister. I really do not see any similarity.”

The former prime minister is facing a barrage of criticism for his unrelenting attacks against Najib and his call for the latter to resign.

However, Dr Mahathir’s own detractors have argued that he was throwing stones in glass houses as he had his own fair share of financial scandals.

In response, he said the losses suffered by Perwaja Steel and Bank Bumiputera Finance have been quantified.

He also attempted to explain the losses in the Maminco Affair.

According to blogger Dinmerican, it was the country’s attempt to corner the tin market on the London exchange, which resulted in the collapse of the price of the commodity in 1981.

“Maminco made losses because the London Metal Exchange decided that tin sold through legitimate sales and purchase agreements need not be fulfilled by supplying the metal to buyers.

“This was decided to save sellers who did not have tin. As a buyer, Malaysia suffered losses,” Dr Mahathir wrote.

He then took aim at the slide in ringgit’s value, which has dropped to six-year lows against the US dollar.

“Today the ringgit has gone down by 70 sen. Every time our currency loses value, the country, government and the people lose billions.

He compared this to his own policy of stopping the slide by pegging the ringgit at RM3.80 to a US dollar in 1998.

“But when the ringgit was saved from currency speculators, billions of government funds were preserved. Many businessmen who were nearly bankrupt were saved in 1998.

“But let’s just forget this because it happened during my time,” Dr Mahathir wrote sarcastically.

On the 1MDB deal, Dr Mahathir said no legitimate answer was given on why it had chalked up debts of RM42 billion, and why the government paid consultant Goldman Sachs a 10% commission to issue a government bond.

“1MDB is not excess fund belonging to the Government. 1MDB borrowed all its billions. Borrowed money cannot be regarded as wealth.

“So far the only asset owned by 1MDB are the pieces of land bought from the government at a price very much below market price. They have been highly revalued.

“But until they are sold, they cannot be used to pay the 42 billion the 1MDB borrowed. They cannot even pay the interest.”

He asserted that Jho Low, whose name has been tied to 1MDB’s failures was not the same as Daim, who had been formally appointed as Finance Minister.

“Who is Jho Low who has been trusted to manage billions of government money in 1MDB?

“Where did the hundreds of ringgit come from to buy property and invest in the film 'The Wolf of Wall Street', by Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson?

“I am not accusing Najib. I am only asking as the billions in debt will in the end be shouldered by the people. These have not been answered by those who criticise me and who say I did the same things.” – April 7, 2015.

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